Harry Styles

Harry Styles is one of the biggest pop stars in Hollywood, yet remains one of its biggest mysteries. From refusing to define his sexuality, unknown relationship status, and hush-hush musical ventures, much of what goes on in Harry’s world is largely obscure to his fans and the public. His social media goes mostly unused, except for the occasional promotion of new projects. He rarely interacts with fans on the internet, but gives polite hello’s and hugs in public. That’s how Harry is — he leads with his actions. From his quiet donations to charity, gender bending outfits, and provocative music videos, Harry doesn’t talk much, but he definitely walks the walk. That’s why it meant so much when he reached out to a fan on World Mental Health Day. 

When Harry was teasing his new single, “Lights Up”, a fan tweeted him, "I guess therapy can wait... HS2 and tour can't," to which Harry replied, "Go to therapy, it's important. I'll wait for you. #WorldMentalHealth." Styles also released his song with the accompanying website, doyouknowwhoyouare.com. This website serves as a platform for fans to receive words of encouragement; fans type in their name into the website and are told that they’re a number of good things, like "honest," "patient," "ambitious," and even "a bit needy but that's okay." Just these few little words tell fans that they matter.  

Harry has also been open about his mental health before. In an interview in early 2019, Harry told Rolling Stone that he dealt with a lot of anxiety while in One Direction. "I was constantly scared I might sing a wrong note. I felt so much weight in terms of not getting things wrong," Harry disclosed to the magazine. This is a situation that we can all identify with — of course, not messing up lyrics in front of hundreds of thousands of people, but the fear of making a mistake. The fear that we are not ourselves if we are not perfect all the time. 

Harry has also discussed confidence issues on stage, mainly because he had “no idea how to channel and control my [his] anxiety.” To deal with this, he was eventually able to “learn about nerves, to understand why and when they might hit and, best of all, how to control them.” This is something that we can all be a little bit better about. Learning how to identify what we’re feeling and what we can do to control those feelings is one of the ways we can learn to be our best selves. To have confidence in who we are helps us feel better about ourselves and better about our relationships. 

So, what can we learn from Harry? Much like the man himself, you don’t need to be flashy to be amazing. You don’t need to be a mental health lobbyist, an advocate, or a spokesperson. You just need to be there for others who need you. And it doesn’t hurt to be honest with yourself in the process.