In a new episode of 'Red Table Talk', the 'Whip My Hair' musician shares the 'rough' time when her actress mom didn't 'understand [her] anxiety' right away when she was a child.
- Apr 28, 2022
AceShowbiz - Opening up about mental health issues is not always an easy feat and Willow Smith learns about it firsthand. In a new episode of "Red Table Talk", the singer recalled being in a tough period in her life, during which she tried to tell her mom Jada Pinkett Smith about her struggle with anxiety.
In the Wednesday, April 27 episode, the "Whip My Hair" musician shared that her mom didn't relate to her disorder right away when she was a child. "It was rough," she recalled. "I feel like when I was growing up, she didn't understand my anxiety. Because she, growing up, had seen her friends die-she had been through so much stuff that my issues, to her, kind of felt like…[smaller]."
The 21-year-old went on to divulge to guest Ireland Baldwin, "And that was very frustrating for me as a child." She added, "Because I was like, 'How can you not see my internal and emotional struggle?' "
Later in the episode, Jada was said to be capable of her daughter's struggle as she also struggled with anxiety. "Recently, we had a talk, and she was like, 'I never knew that I actually experienced anxiety,' " Willow said. "And she was pushing it down for so many years, like she had no idea. So, I had to forgive her a little bit for being like, 'Yeah, yeah, yeah…I get it, but it's really not that bad.' "
As for Ireland, the model got candid about her struggle with an eating disorder as well as alcohol and prescription drugs. "I've been through so much before I really got help," the model told Willow. "I was in a really abusive relationship, and I did go to a treatment center…and for so long, I didn't wanna call it [that] just like I didn't wanna call my anxiety-anxiety."
Ireland continued, "I need to overcome everything that I had been through and rid myself of all the pain I locked away in an unreachable place."
