Sinead O'Connor is seeking treatment for addiction and trauma. Photo / YouTube
Sinead O'Connor is seeking treatment for addiction and trauma. Photo / YouTube
Singer Sinead O'Connor has opened up about her mental health battle, having postponed her 2021 tour in order to enter a year-long treatment programme for trauma and addiction.
The Nothing Compares 2 U singer, 53, took to Twitter to share that 2020 had been the culmination of six years of suffering, adding that she is ready to get help after becoming addicted to "a drug other than weed".
"Message for folks who have tickets for next year's shows: Those shows are being postponed until 2022 so that I may go into a one-year trauma and addiction treatment programme because I had a very traumatic six years and this year was the end of it but now recovery starts," she wrote.
In a series of follow up tweets, O'Connor explained that she "grew up with a lot of trauma and abuse" from which she has never fully healed, but was hopeful the treatment programme would allow her to address her historic difficulties.
In a shocking 2017 interview with Dr Phil, the Irish artist claimed her mum stomped on her abdomen and made her say, "I am nothing," when she was a child.
"She didn't want girls. She wanted me to be a boy. She (dressed) me like a boy, she chops my hair off. Whenever she beats me, which is daily, I'm naked. She makes me take my clothes off. I have to lie on the floor. I have to open my arms and legs. I have to let her attack my abdomen. She wants to burst my womb. She wants to destroy my reproductive system. She wants to stop me from being a female," O'Connor said through tears in the emotional episode.
In her posts his week, O'Connor said she had this year become addicted to "a drug other than weed" (which she had been addicted to for 34 years) after the death of "someone beloved".
Message for folks who have tickets for next year's shows: those shows are being postponed until 2022 so that I may go into a one year trauma and addiction treatment program because I had a very traumatic six years and this year was the end of it but now recovery starts.
— Sinead O'Connor (AKA Shuhada Sadaqat) (@MagdaDavitt77) November 10, 2020
She also said she experienced trauma due to the illness of one of her children.
"The child is thriving now thank God," she wrote, "but the mum needs TLC."
O'Connor, who has been married four times, has four children: Jake Reynolds, 33, Roisin Waters, 24, Shane Lunny, 16, and Yeshua Bonadio, 13.
She added that even though the music industry can be "a very unforgiving place for artists who need to postpone due to emotional or mental health issues," by going to rehab now, she would face a brighter future as a performer.
She asked for support from her agents and promoters.
"If taking this step means my career is over then so be it," O'Connor wrote, then cited the American poet Mary Oliver: "I must save the only life I can."
In 2016, O'Connor sparked concern for her health when she disappeared from a Chicago suburb, but was later found safe. In 2018, she converted to Islam and changed her name to Shuhada' Davitt.
The iconic singer – whose treatment begins next week – said she is still planning to publish a memoir in 2021.
If you are worried about your or someone else's mental health, the best place to get help is your GP or local mental health provider. However, if you or someone else is in danger or endangering others, call police immediately on 111.
