Cardi B and Missy Elliott help to destigmatise anxiety with candid Twitter exchange
The rappers both tweeted about struggling with the mental health condition
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Your support makes all the difference.Cardi B and Missy Elliott have discussed coping with anxiety in a candid Twitter exchange, and many have praised the rappers for opening up about their mental health.
Cardi B has received a lot of attention in the media over the past few days, recently performing at the Bud Light Super Bowl Music Fest in Georgia, Atlanta at the weekend and starring in Pepsi's Super Bowl commercial alongside Steve Carell and Lil Jon.
On 5 February, a couple of days after the 2019 Super Bowl took place, the I Like It rapper revealed to her 4.96m Twitter followers that she's struggling with anxiety.
"Anxiety is kicking my ass right now," Cardi B wrote in a tweet that's garnered 45,000 retweets and 193,000 likes.
The Grammy-nominated artist received a flurry of supportive responses, including a message of solidarity from fellow rapper Missy Elliott.
"Many people deal with this... I am one... it's real," Missy Elliot replied.
In response to Missy Elliott's tweet, one Twitter user explained that people have "no idea the things artists go through behind the scenes," to which the rapper answered: "Yes it is a lot and I have things that trigger mine... it's scary at times."
Cardi B has spoken about her anxiety before, telling SiriusXM in April 2018 that the pressure of making music has taken its toll on her throughout the progression of her career.
"Like, at first when I was doing music it was fun and I was so eager to get in the studio all the time," the rapper said.
"Now, I get anxiety when I go to the studio because everybody is like expecting some crazy magic from me."
In 2015, Missy Elliott told Billboard how the night before her performance at the Super Bowl halftime show alongside Katy Perry, she'd experienced a panic attack due to the anxiety she was experiencing.
Among the scores of supportive comments Cardi B received in response to her initial tweet about anxiety was a sympathetic message from comedian Sarah Silverman.
"You got this. Just exist," Silverman wrote. "You'll come out the other side I promise."
In 2015, Silverman told Glamour that she first experienced depression at the age of 13.
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