Halsey on Living with Endometriosis: ‘I’m Not Going to Let You Make Me Ashamed’
Halsey got candid about living with endometriosis at the Endometriosis Foundation of America’s Ninth Annual Blossom Ball on Monday night.
Ahead of the event, where she received the organization's Blossom Award, the 23-year-old singer told Us Weekly that working in music helped her push past any embarrassment she may have felt about the condition.
"I have male managers in my life. I’m surrounded by men all the time,” she told the outlet. “There were times when I was bleeding through my clothes or I was sick and it got to the point where I had to look at everyone around me and be like, ‘You know what? That is something that is a reality for me and you need to suck it up and deal. I’m not going to let you make me ashamed of this. We’re going to get through this.’”
Later, during her acceptance speech, she urged fans to make others take their pain seriously.
"I have the privilege of getting to meet a lot of young fans on the road and many of them have told me that without that tweet they wouldn’t have taken the opportunity to talk to their doctors and physicians and say ‘Hey, something’s not right,’” she said, referencing a 2016 tweet in which she revealed her struggle with the often debilitating gynecological disorder and told her followers they weren't "alone."
“A lot of people are taught to believe the pain is normal," she continued. "If you think something is wrong, it probably is. You need to go and demand that someone takes you seriously. Your health is all you have, and especially as a young woman who has reproductive pain, you need to take care of yourself.”
Other stars who have been vocal about their battle with endometriosis include Julianne Hough, Jillian Michaels, Padma Lakshmi, and Lena Dunham, the latter of whom received the Blossom Award last year.
Click through photos of Halsey from the all below.