Mariah Carey revealed she has received treatment for bipolar disorder after living through "the hardest couple of years" of her life.
Speaking to People, the singer said she was originally diagnosed with the illness in 2001, but until recently has "lived in denial".
Carey told the magazine she worried for years that "someone would expose" her, but that hiding her illness became "too heavy a burden to carry".
[I lived] in constant fear someone would expose me. It was too heavy a burden to carry and I simply couldn’t do that anymore. I sought and received treatment, I put positive people around me and I got back to doing what I love – writing songs and making music.
She went on to say that she is now taking medication to manage the disorder, and that it's important to find the "proper balance".
"I was working and working and working … I was irritable and in constant fear of letting people down," she continued. "It turns out that I was experiencing a form of mania."
Mariah concluded by saying she hopes coming forward about her own experience with bipolar disorder will help reduce the social stigma surrounding mental illness.
I’m just in a really good place right now, where I’m comfortable discussing my struggles with bipolar II disorder. I’m hopeful we can get to a place where the stigma is lifted from people going through anything alone. It can be incredibly isolating. It does not have to define you and I refuse to allow it to define me or control me.
