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By Janelle Griffith
Singer Bebe Rexha announced Monday that she has bipolar disorder.
Rexha, 29, disclosed the diagnosis in a series of tweets.
“For the longest time, I didn’t understand why I felt so sick. Why I felt lows that made me not want to leave my house or be around people and why I felt highs that wouldn’t let me sleep, wouldn’t let me stop working or creating music,” she wrote. “Now I know why.”
She continued: “I’m bipolar and I’m not ashamed anymore.”
The singer, whose real name is Bleta Rexha, also said she did not want to be pitied.
“I don’t want you to feel sorry for me,” she said. “I just want you to accept me.”
Bipolar is a mood disorder characterized by alternating highs and lows. It causes unusual shifts in mood, energy, activity levels and the ability to carry out day-to-day tasks. It affects about 60 million people worldwide.
Other celebrities who have spoken out about having bipolar disorder include rapper Kanye West, who did so last year, and singer Mariah Carey, who told People magazine in 2018 that she learned that she had the disorder in 2001.
“Until recently, I lived in denial and isolation and in constant fear someone would expose me,” Carey told People. “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.”