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Doja Cat says she’s struggling after revealing ‘agonising’ mental health diagnosis
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Doja Cat has revealed that she is struggling with a condition she calls ‘agonising’.
The Say So singer, whose real name is Amala Ratna Zandile Dlamini, uploaded a six minute video onto TikTok where she announced the disorder.
She started by telling her fans: ‘I’ve learned from a very young age to pretend that I like stuff, to pretend that I’m happy, to pretend that I don’t like stuff that I do, to appear like everything is okay, I’ll get it done.’
‘And it caught up with me, and I think it always does for people. I’m now struggling with BPD [borderline personality disorder].’
Thinking out loud, Doja contemplated how long she’d been living with the condition and concluded: ‘I mean, probably forever.’ However, the 30-year-old went on: ‘So, it’s an agonising condition – curable, thank God. I’ve been in therapy for years now.
The NHS says about the disorder: ‘Over time, many people with BPD overcome their symptoms and recover. Additional treatment is recommended for people whose symptoms return.’
The singer continued: ‘I am so relieved and so proud of myself. I’ve made it so far, and I still make mistakes, but it is like an eight year process of curing, of treatment and healing in order to cure it.’
In the comments, users responded with support. @Ma.kitten_ wrote: ‘Being this open about BPD takes a lot of courage. You’re doing amazing and a lot of people appreciate your honesty ❤️.’
What is borderline personality disorder?
The NHS groups symptoms of BPD into four main areas:
- Emotional instability – the psychological term for this is affective dysregulation
- Disturbed patterns of thinking or perception – cognitive distortions or perceptual distortions
- Impulsive behaviour
- Intense but unstable relationships with others
It says symptoms usually emerge in adolescence and persist into adulthood.
It also states that the causes of the condition are unclear, but it ‘appears to result from a combination of genetic and environmental factors’.
In her video, Doja Cat then goes on to defend Chappell Roan, who has been in the press recently for her dealings with the paparazzi.
Chappell recently had a run-in with photographers and people on the street who she said were ‘harassing’ her.
Making it clear that she is not diagnosing the Pink Pony Club hitmaker with BPD, she praised Chappell for ‘showing her discomfort, or showing her unamused-ness, [and] her disdain.’
Doja continued: ‘I love that she can be uncomfortable comfortably in front of people and protect herself, and be honest.
‘I had to learn how to be honest with myself. I lied to myself for years.’
Commenting on the state of the music industry and Doja’s post, TikTok user Marlon Hernandez said: ‘It’s so sad that being a musician means being bounded to this monster of capitalism and exploitation, it’s became so normal to treat people like a product that needs to be efficient…it’s so sad.
‘Chappell reminds people that music is supposed to be the most humane thing, not this cash cow.’
In the past, Doja Cat has called branded her fans ‘crazy’ and called out interactions that she found uncomfortable.
The music artist goes on in her video to talk about ‘resellers’ who she says are ‘people who show up, they pose as fans and they ask for signatures’.
Doja slammed them, saying: ‘It’s not honest work.’
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