Gwen Stefani Once Talked About Her Struggles With Mental Health and How “Songs Can Cure”

Editor's note: This article was originally published on June 30, 2023. It has since been updated.

Gwen Stefani dropped a new romantic single True Babe in June 2023. While promoting her latest music, she revealed to Glamour about her previous battles with mental health. The Rich Girl songstress shared that she went from "writing about heartache to writing about love" and that making music is therapeutic. “Honestly I have been writing a lot of music lately. I feel like that helps me so much with my mental health because a lot of thinking goes into it. Songs can cure you. I also think being creative helps me,” Stefani said.

Stefani also added that she has started treating herself with kindness, per Hello. She explained, "I went in and out of liking myself. I honestly think I was pretty hard on myself. But at the same time, I look back and I think, 'God, I was just being me and I got here because of that.' So, I had to do a lot of forgiving of different things at certain times and trying to be kind to myself." 

Stefani also confessed that exercise "makes her feel better" when it comes to coping with her mental health struggles: “I don't exercise every day. I don't wanna exercise every day, but when I do, I feel so much better. I'm talking about like a million times better. So I think that's important. I think that just trying to find balance, you know, in everything, from prayer to exercise to making out with my husband, like all of it.” 

The Sweet Escape singer said she found "true love" in her husband, Blake Shelton, and revealed that it's not money that makes her feel rich. “One thing in my life that is not like a money thing that makes my life rich, very, very rich, is obviously the most important thing, love. And I know that sounds cliche, but I spent my whole life trying to find true love and I have it right now and it's just been the most incredible thing. And I spent most of my life writing about heartache and now I'm writing about my love. It's an amazing thing.” 

Speaking about the importance of having a loving family, Stefani added, “And I think being able to have, not just like romantic love, but having a family and being a mom and all of those things are just the most important things and there's no doubt about it.”

The mother of three admitted that she has not experienced any ageist discrimination so far. She said that as she grows older, ageism may creep into her life and that it is "probably around the corner." Yet, the Don't Speak singer highlighted the importance of having a purpose in coping with one's mental health and societal struggles. "I think it's just about keeping your eye on the ball, which is just trying to keep your eye on whatever is your purpose and what you're supposed to be doing next, and trying to serve. And that's what I try to do. I feel like, I give the pen to the man upstairs to write the story and here we are," Stefani said.

While signing off, the Hollaback Girl singer advised her followers to be "true to oneself." “I think that at the end of the day, the one thing that I've learned along the way, is the more I was me, the further I got. So, yeah, that's just the truth. And I've lived long enough that I can now give this advice," Stefani said.