Olivia Rodrigo Believes In Building Mental Resilience

Fame and stardom can be hard to cope with at any age. But at just 18 years old, Olivia Rodrigo has, for many of us, seemingly come out of nowhere. This of course isn’t true, Rodrigo was a Disney star before she released her critically acclaimed, chart-topping record Sour. The new album scored her massive airplay and won her a whole host of new fans. Of course, with that new fandom comes a lot of pressure. Here’s how she’s handling it. 

Olivia Rodrigo on staying happy and healthy

Rodrigo, the October cover star for Vogue Singapore, told the magazine that the newfound stardom has had a massive impact on her mental health. One of the main things Rodrigo credits with helping her stay grounded is family and friends.

Protect your mental health

She also explains that she tries to keep away from tabloids and social media as it can have a very negative impact on her mentally. And of course, all the added fame does place you firmly in the spotlight. Rodrigo remarks on the fact that whilst she has become much more famous, she is still struggling with the same things as she was before Sour was a runaway success. She explains “the problems I was having a year ago are still the problems I’m having now, and things that brought me joy a year ago are still the things that bring me joy now. It’s just another aspect of life that you need to learn how to deal with, but it doesn’t change who you are as a person”. 

Don’t let social media bring you down

We could all do with taking a leaf out of Rodrigo’s book. Sometimes, it’s most important that we surround ourselves with people who make us happy and ground us. It’s good to take time away from social media and all the pressures that surround it. It seems that it doesn’t matter what age we are, social media tends to have a negative impact on our lives. Sometimes, it’s a good idea to step away and take some time to appreciate all the things that we do have, as well as the things that make us happy. All too often, we see the lives we want so badly depicted on someone else’s social media profile and become lost in ‘I wish’ and ‘what if’. 

Make sure you’re surrounded by the right people

Another thing Rodrigo mentioned in the same interview was how important it is to monitor who you keep by your side. She expressed that she found it “surprising” who was genuinely supportive and who wasn’t saying “sometimes when you have a lot of success really quickly, it can scare people and make people feel different. That was an interesting thing to learn”.

Rodrigo also mentions her parents as having a major impact on how she views herself and also credits them with keeping her grounded.

 

Olivia Rodrigo began her career at school

The 18-year-old explained that she started working on sets in middle school and was home-schooled from then on. Given that her mum is a teacher and her dad a therapist, perhaps she was bound to be more balanced than the average teen star. Rodrigo says that her parents offer immense support and express their pride in her achievements however also express that “[they] would be equally proud of [her] if [she] were in school in [her] hometown.

Taking time out is important 

Another thing the young star has learned, she told People magazine in June, is how important it is to take time out for yourself. With such a busy schedule, it’s really no surprise that it can become difficult to take time out to spend alone or with family and friends. She explains that she can get burned out “very easily” and finds it “really hard to be inspired and create work that [she] really like[s]” when she is exhausted.

She expressed that this had taught her that taking time off is vital and said that her team has been “really awesome about giving me breaks when I need it, and letting me rest, and take it easy with what I need to”. Another thing that keeps her spirits up is spending time with her friends, which she finds “really rejuvenating”. She also says that it’s important for her to have friends that she can spend time with “talking about stuff that is not music or industry-related”. 

Selena Gomez offers advice 

Rodrigo told Variety that some of the most important advice she got came from none other than Selena Gomez. She says “She talked to me a lot about prioritizing mental health, which I think is really important in this industry. All of us were in the limelight very young. … That can be taxing on your psyche and can bring about all these weird issues”.

This comes after Gomez revealed that she suffers from bipolar disorder on a live with Miley Cyrus. Following that, Gomez unveiled a project called Mental Health 101. Which is described as  “a wellness initiative that aims to provide resources and empowerment to young people experiencing mental health struggles”.

Even for those of us that aren’t stars and haven’t spent our formative years in the public eye, prioritizing mental health and wellbeing is important. It’s always a good idea to take time out when you are struggling mentally. 

References 

https://people.com/music/olivia-rodrigo-how-fame-affects-mental-health/

https://graziamagazine.com/us/articles/selena-gomez-olivia-rodrigo-mental-health-advice/

https://vogue.sg/olivia-rodrigo-vogue-singapore-cover-interview/

https://www.forbes.com/sites/alicegwalton/2017/06/30/a-run-down-of-social-medias-effects-on-our-mental-health/?sh=1d6cdfd02e5a