Lizzo’s Powerful Health Turnaround: Inside Her Mental-Health Battle

Lizzo opens up about her severe depression, suicidal thoughts, and the healing journey that reshaped her life. A powerful look at her mental-health and wellness transformation.

Lizzo Breaks Silence on Her 2023–2025 Weight Loss Journey and the Impact of Ozempic Culture

In November 2025, Lizzo opened up in a raw and honest interview, sharing that she had been battling a severe mental-health crisis marked by deep depression and even suicidal thoughts — a period she described as feeling “deeply suicidal.”

While this isn’t a medical diagnosis like heart disease or diabetes, her admission is still a critical health update. She later echoed the same experience in a personal Substack essay, explaining how public controversy, broken trust, and emotional exhaustion pushed her into a dark place that began in late 2023.

“I was severely depressed. I had been the subject of a vicious scandal … I became deeply suicidal,” she wrote.

During that time, Lizzo said she pulled away from friends and family, choosing to cope alone. But instead of letting that pain define her, she turned it into purpose. She sought therapy, leaned into movement, and rebuilt her relationship with food and her own body image.

By speaking so openly about her struggles, Lizzo has become a voice of honesty and strength — encouraging her fans to face mental-health issues directly and to ask for support without shame. She also used her story to warn against the growing obsession with quick weight-loss drugs, calling out how the trend is pressuring plus-size people to conform rather than feel accepted.

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Over the last two years, Lizzo has been reshaping her lifestyle. Since 2023, she’s referred to her journey not as “weight loss” but as “weight release,” choosing language that reflects healing rather than punishment.

She credits her progress to shifting away from a vegan or overly processed diet and adopting a high-protein eating plan that includes more animal-based foods. Alongside that, she committed to strength training, Pilates — which she says helped her recover from a back injury — daily walks, and jump-rope workouts.

Health experts commenting on her journey emphasize what applies broadly to many people: eating more protein, maintaining a calorie deficit, and building muscle through strength training can support weight changes and improve overall health. But they also warn that there’s no “one perfect diet” for everyone.

Lizzo’s approach to healing has been grounded in proven methods: therapy, exercise, and a more balanced diet. For many people, this combination can help stabilize mood, improve self-esteem, and reduce symptoms of depression — though each person’s experience is different.

She has also spoken about the emotional roots behind her transformation — years of trauma, betrayal, grief after her father’s death, and relationships she described as abusive or draining. These experiences shaped both her mental-health struggles and her determination to rebuild.

Though she hasn’t said that any family members are directly suffering because of her health issues, she has shared that she has carried the responsibility of supporting her family financially and emotionally since 2016 — a burden that added to the weight she was already carrying internally.