Words: Sarah Glatzhofer
Illustrations: Emma Lammie

*Trigger Warning* : This article features discussion of mental health, suicide and depression.

When the news hit that Jesy Nelson had decided to leave Little Mix for good, not for a little break, but an actual exit; sadness sank within all of the Mixers for this departure. Although this broke the hearts of millions, support rushed towards Jesy Nelson, making her know that we all were not angered by her choice, but respected her. We all knew the reason why she took a step down, and that was to look after her mental health. 

But what have we learnt from Jesy Nelson’s action, when it comes to looking after your mental health? We know that this wasn’t something that happened over night; this battle that Jesy Nelson had with her depression had been ongoing since she had become a member of Little Mix. 

Throughout the years, talking about mental health has been advertised all over social media. On Mental Health Awareness Day, 10th October, loads of people that I follow on Instagram, post photos on their story, spreading the awareness of looking after your mental health. When a person puts their mental health as a priority, it can give a good effect on their life; in areas such as their social life, career and relationships. However, when neglecting it, when we let the negativity crowd over our mental health, everything in our life can be seen as unimportant.  

When it comes to depression, it can affect a person’s life in many different ways:

• Lack of interest in things you once enjoyed
• Being short-tempered
• Sleeping a lot more or a lot less
• Feeling hopeless/worthless
• Low energy

“…in most cases learning that you have depression or anxiety isn’t to do with you, it’s caused by other people”

Looking back at Jesy Nelson’s actions within Little Mix, it is clear that she did lose a lack of interest. There were times when she wouldn’t have joined in with interviews or performances. In her documentary, Odd One Out, which won a NTA for Most Popular Factual Entertainment Programme (with the anniversary of that in late January), we learnt how different she was before Little Mix hit. The interest that she had within singing was so passionate; that she even mentioned that when she would previously watch X Factor, she said “I know I can win that,”. She had such a big belief due to the love of performing that seeing how it ended, has angered many, that these bullies hid behind their screens making Jesy Nelson feel worthless. 

Image Source

Yet, she fought against this alone for sometime. In her documentary, she mentions how someone who she worked with spoke to her about having anti-depression tablets. It was something that Jesy wasn’t fond of, and thought “Why should I go on antidepressants because of what people are saying about me?’. Hearing this, made me realise how much people want to ignore their mental health; because in most cases learning that you have depression or anxiety isn’t to do with you, it’s caused by other people. This makes one think, shouldn’t the bullies be the ones that need to change their behaviour and attitude. It proves that education on mental health is important for everyone; not only to learn about the value of talking about your mental health. But to teach how negative comments can impact a person.

When Odd One Out came out, we were all welcomed into Jesy Nelson’s life; a life that she wished had turned out differently. Jesy was ready to talk to the world about her depression, that led to her being suicidal. She presented her story like this to educate everyone about the importance of not only being kind to others. But to look after your mental health. Jesy spoke about how different her life changed once becoming a member of Little Mix, when they were all told to have social media to engage with their fans. Yet, something that was meant to be the best time of her life, turned into a nightmare. She was instantly labelled as the ‘fat, ugly one’ and from then on, Jesy began to view her body negatively. 

Jesy mentioned in the documentary that since joining Little Mix, she has had issues with her looks; due to the negative comments she has received leading her to believe they were true. We watched her overcome one of her challenges, and talk to Liz Riche, a body specialist. She told Jesy that she needs to connect with the girl she once was before Little Mix. The one that helped her become the woman she is now. Viewing her thoughts with this new light has helped Jesy a lot into her next chapter. Although, over a year after this documentary came out, Jesy did decide to leave Little Mix.

“I would like to say thank you to Jesy; for everything she has done to help create a fabulous band of powerful women”

Sharing her insights in the documentary showed the importance of talking, and how much that helped her with learning to love performing again. However allowing time to understand our mental health and look after ourselves takes time. Jesy exiting Little Mix shouldn’t be seen that her mental health beat her; we should see it as a strength that she realised she needed a break from all of this just to focus on herself. In the documentary she mentioned how she wishes to ‘never become that girl again,’. I believe she was mentioning the girl who tried to overdose (as mentioned in the documentary), the one that wanted all of this heartbreak to be over; for this pain to stop. 

“Jesy has taught us that taking a step back from the pressure of work…can and will help you mentally”

I believe that Jesy knew that if she carried on with Little Mix, that she might become that girl again. Therefore it was bravery that made her take a step away from all this, to not fall back to the girl that hated herself. Her actions are something we should all look at in a positive way. No matter how much it saddens us that we might never see Little Mix perform as a four ever again. Jesy has taught us that taking a step back from the pressure of work, whether it is performing or working in an office, can and will help you mentally. It will let you view everything in a different way, and make you value your love for your career or hobbies once again.  It doesn’t mean that Jesy will not have a day where she will spend it in bed; because in my opinion, I think doing that is a perfect way of looking after your mental health. Relaxing is important, because then the next day or the next week, you will feel ready to approach more tasks.

What I’ve learnt from Jesy, is that it’s important to talk to other people, whether it’s with a therapist, or with a support group. All I would like to say to Jesy is thank you; for everything she has done to help create a fabulous band of powerful women. I hope for her to be happy, one day she might bless us all once again with her singing. I would want her to understand how much of an inspiration she is to many people in this society. How many people she has helped to talk about their mental health. And Jesy will forever be part of Little Mix, no matter what.