Catherine Zeta-Jones, Demi Lovato, and now Beyonce Knowles open up about mental health

Beyonce Knowles is the latest celebrity to speak out about mental health

By Charlotte Fantelli

We have recently reported on a host of stories where celebrities have 'come out' about mental health issues.

Over the past six months it seems that a whole hoard of celebs are coming forward about various mental illnesses. Catherine Zeta Jones was praised by mental health workers earlier this year when she revealed her bipolar disorder and the troubles she was experiencing after Michael Douglas' cancer battle.

More recently we have seen young starlet Demi Lovato air her troubles publicly, disclosing her eating disorders, bipolar diagnosis and self harm. Chantelle Houghton has spoken out about her eating disorders and how it has detrimentally impacted her ability to have children.

Today, Beyonce has told the Sun newspaper that she took a year out from music for the sake of her mental health. The Sun lead with the usual inappropriate headline of 'Beyonce: I took a gap year to stop going crazy', it seems they've not come very far since the 'Bonkers Bruno' headline that landed them in hot water some years ago, but I digress.

In this interview Beyonce said: "It was beginning to get fuzzy - I couldn't even tell which day or which city I was at.

She went on to say "My mother was very persistent and she kept saying that I had to take care of my mental health."

Despite the ridiculous context in which the tabloid puts this claim, in my humble opinion this is a really good thing for mental health. If these strong, beautiful and intelligent women are standing up and saying 'hey we are not invincible, we too need to take care of our mental health,' then perhaps us mere mortals will give ourselves the attention we need and not be ashamed when we can't simply "do it all."

I am very pleased to report that the attitude that Beyonce adopted has paid dividends and she has now returned with a chart topping new album '4' and has performed breathtaking sets at Glastonbury and T in the Park.

Let's hope that stars and members of the public alike can take Beyonce's lead and show themselves the kind of 'self care' that really can stop mental health problems before they get hold - Bravo Beyonce!