Sevyn Streeter Opens Up About Her Depression: “I Wanted To Kill Myself”

In a new interview with “Vibe Vixen,” Sevyn Streeter opened up about her life, her career, and recent struggle with depression, admitting that at one point, she was considering suicide.

On May 11th, 2017, Streeter  made a public statement on Instagram about overcoming her battle with depression (post below), but kept quiet for awhile.

In the interview, Streeter was honest, open, and transparent. All the qualities you can see/feel/hear in her music and her presence. Dealing with depression personally, it isn’t a joke, and it takes a strong person to admit it. Thankfully Streeter  is strong enough to continue the discussion on mental health, especially in the music industry.

It’s been two years since your last project, what caused the album delay?
The No. 1 thing for me is I have to live my life before I write. I had some songs that I needed to complete that just got finished maybe two weeks ago, they were necessary for my story. I do very well writing about my love life, all my fans know that, they know I will call a n***a a B.A.N. (b***h a** n***a) in two seconds. Or if I’m in love, I’ll write a song like “It Won’t Stop.” If I like you, but I’m not totally sure, I’ll write songs like “Before I Do.” The song on my album called “Livin’”, I knew that that’s how I felt, but I didn’t have any songs to express what I went through.

What did you go through?
I dealt with depression on a very serious level for like a year-and-a-half, and I never said anything to my fans. Obviously, my mom and my dad and my brother, a few family members, knew about it — but it was really, really hard. I wanted to kill myself, I really did. And through my family, and God and prayer, it turned around. [My family] helped me put everything into perspective, and something in you just kicks in and goes: “You’ve been doing this 15 years for no reason? The 15-year-old version of you, who has been waiting for this moment, should literally beat your a**.” That part of the story had to be completed. I wrote “Livin’” and it speaks of dark times, but it also comes back around and says I’m going to bet on myself. You have to bet on yourself.

What triggered your depression?
Turning 30 was a big trigger for me. This is not like when you graduate high school and you get your diploma. You go to college for four years, or whatever period of time, and you get your degree. You did it, and you get to move on. I’ve literally been doing the same exact thing everyday with the same amount of intensity and focus, since I was 15 years old. To look up and be 30 years old, and to feel like this hasn’t happened yet, but you can’t quit because you’re just going to be throwing away all the years that you put into it [music]. That in itself can take a toll. I don’t care what you do in life, you want to be successful, you want to feel like you accomplished certain things.

A lot of my depression was trigged by the fact that I’ve given my life to this music, and it’s in a good place, but it’s not exactly where I want it to be. I sacrificed a lot of my childhood for music, I sacrificed a lot of my love life for music.

I looked up and I’m like ‘I’m 30, what do I have to show for all of the things that I’ve sacrificed?’ My faith level was at an amazing height all my life. I had never been in a place where I was questioning God so much. I knew well enough to know that he would bring me out of it, but when you’re in the middle of it, it’s hard to see [clearly] sometimes. But thank God for the people in my life who pray for me — they prayed for me when I didn’t feel like praying for myself.

Streeter acknowloedes her depression on the first song of her debut album, “Girl Disrupted,” titled “Livin.”

The full interview can be read at “Vibe Vixen,” which i recommend you do. Get Streeter’s debut album here.