Shawn Mendes is taking time for mental health, postpones tour

Shawn Mendes announced he is postponing shows on his tour due to mental health issues. (Photo: David Livingston/FilmMagic)

Shawn Mendes is taking a break from the road in order to take care of his mental health.

On Friday, the “Treat You Better” singer posted a note on Instagram, saying that he would be postponing shows on his Wonder world tour.

“This breaks my heart to have to say this, but unfortunately I’m going to have to postpone the next three weeks of shows through Uncasville, CT until further notice,” the 23 year old shared. “I’ve been touring since I was 15 and to be honest it’s always been difficult to be on the road away from friends and family. After a few years off the road, I felt like I was ready to dive back in, but that decision was premature and unfortunately the toll of the road and the pressure has caught up to me and I’ve hit a breaking point.”

He added that the decision came after speaking to professionals about his health.

“I need to take some time to heal and take care of myself and my mental health, first and foremost,” he wrote. “As soon as there are more updates I promise I will let you know love you guys.”

Mendes recently opened up with his followers on social media about his mental health struggles. In April, he shared a lengthy note on Twitter about feeling like he’s either “flying or drowning” at any given moment, and questioned whether that’s just how it feels to be in one’s 20s.

“The truth is even with so much success, I still find it hard to feel like I’m not failing, hyper-focused on what I don’t have, forgetting to see all that I do,” he continued. “The truth is I’m overwhelmed and overstimulated LOL. The truth is ALSO that I’m okay.”

Mendes has spoken about dealing with mental health challenges before. In 2018, he told Apple Music’s Zane Lowe his song “In My Blood” was about learning to cope with anxiety.

“It was kind of something that hit me within the last year. Before that, growing up, I was a pretty calm kid, super steady,” the Grammy nominee said. “I knew people who had suffered from anxiety and found it kind of hard to understand, but then when it hits you, you’re like, ‘Oh my God, what is this? This is crazy.’ That song is complete truth and the best thing about it is, it’s not all down. The whole reason I wrote this song was to be like, at the end, ‘It’s not in my blood to do that.’”

In his 2020 Netflix documentary Shawn Mendes: In Wonder, the artist also revealed that he often finds it challenging to be away from his family and friends back home in Canada.

“I’ve never had more fun in my life, but I also want to hang with my parents and watch movies, drive around a suburb, lay on a soccer field, smoke a joint and stare at the stars with my friends and, like, eat some beef jerky,” he explained to the camera. “Really small-town thoughts. I think that I miss that a little bit right now.”

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