Mental Health and Fame
At the age of 16, Janet Devlin became an overnight star. By the age of 20, she was an alcoholic. To her adoring fans, the singer from Northern Ireland had the world at her feet, but away from the public eye, her mental health was spiralling out of control.
Music has always been part of Janet Devlin's life. "According to my family, I was singing before I could speak," she told me as we chatted in a small recording studio located in a sleepy suburbian neighbourhood, a far cry from the rock-n-roll lifestyle most people would associate with the life of a pop star. But then Janet is the product of the quiet life after growing up in Gortin, a tiny rural village in Northern Ireland where, in her own words, her house was "quite literally in the middle of nowhere." It was a peaceful countryside life which came to an abrupt end after she auditioned for the eighth series of the X-Factor, the hugely popular UK television talent show.
Her mother had suggested she should audition for the show after seeing the reaction to videos of Janet singing on social media. Looking back now, she realises how unprepared she was for being thrust into the full spotlight of fame immediately after the show aired in 2011. "It was so weird; I was still at school, yet suddenly millions of people knew who I was. Everyone wanted to sit next to me in class."
Despite the appearance of having the world at her feet, Janet had long struggled with her mental health, but now she also had to deal with navigating her newfound fame. "I had already experienced anorexia and self-harming before I went on the show, and now suddenly I was living by myself, trying to record my first album, while dealing with the fans who loved me and those who seemed to criticise my every move." Exhausted by the effort of maintaining the appearance of a successful recording artist, behind the scenes, the loneliness and anxiety of her private life were taking their toll. Alcohol was to prove her escape, and by her late teens, she was drinking heavily.
Ironically, perhaps, Janet saw her addictions as a way to take back control. With so much of her life and early career in the hands of others, she felt increasingly unable to determine the direction of her own life. But she could choose to drink and to self-harm; these were to become her acts of self-determination. Eventually, the spiral of self-destruction led to attempts to take her own life. "I was desperate to remove the problem, but that problem was me."
It had long been apparent to those around her that she needed help, but it was only after years of this manic behaviour that she finally made the difficult decision to seek a formal diagnosis. In hindsight, it was perhaps unsurprising that the diagnosis was Borderline Personality Disorder and Bipolar II Disorder. It was through gaining an understanding of these conditions that Janet was able to begin the difficult journey toward recovery. "My life has been driven by chaos for so long," she said, "it was only when I finally received my diagnosis that I was able to start breaking free of my addictions."
Janet has now been sober for more than six years. Medication and positive influences in her life have allowed her to leave behind the demons which taunted her for so long. Every day is still a battle, but she finally feels in a place where she feels able to face life head-on. Music has played a huge part in her therapy. In 2020 she released her widely lauded second studio album, Confessional, alongside an autobiographical book, My Confessional. Together, these creative works are Janet's way of telling the story of her past in her own words. Each chapter of this deeply personal book unlocks the truth behind a song from the album. "I wrote my book to try to put my past behind me. I didn't want it to have ownership over me anymore. Now I'm finally ready to start a new chapter."
As we chatted, I was struck not only by Janet's bravery for speaking so openly about these deeply personal experiences but also by the challenges of having to deal with her mental health in the constant gaze of millions of people. Fame can, without doubt, be a double-edged sword in a celebrity-obsessed society where those in the public eye are often considered commodities rather than people. But at that moment, I was speaking to Janet Devlin, the person, not Janet Devlin, the pop star. That Janet has been to some incredibly dark places in her life and yet has managed to fight her way back into the light. And now, by sharing her experiences, she is using the platform of her fame to help other young people struggling with managing their mental health fight their own demons.
"It's so important we are able to talk about mental health, so we can try and remove the stigma of it. I'm not the first person to struggle, I won't be the last, and I want people going through this to know they aren't alone."
