Friday, July 11, 2025 marked a milestone moment in music, as Justin Bieber released a surprise new album after a four-year hiatus. ‘Swag,’ the artist’s seventh studio album, is more than just a record, though—it represents freedom: Freedom from his ex-manager and corporate stardom, and a newfound creative freedom to make music that’s 100 percent his own. Justin Bieber has been in the music industry for over 20 years, yet this is the first time he’s been able to take full ownership of a record and be his true, authentic self.
The release of ‘Swag’ is making headlines, adding to—and nearly overshadowing—all the recent buzz around Justin Bieber. Before the album’s release, Bieber was the subject of a lot of speculation and concern, with fans wondering about the state of his marriage, his financial situation, and his mental health. Let us explain.
As you might have seen in news outlets, Justin Bieber was recently tangled up in some financial conflict, owing his former manager, Scooter Braun, over $31 million. The two recently came to a settlement in July 2025, leading many to question Bieber’s financial state. But the real concern isn’t in his finances—it’s regarding his mental health.
Over the last few years, Justin Bieber has displayed a lot of erratic behavior on social media. In 2025 alone, fans have been met with some cryptic posts about him being “unworthy” and having “anger issues,” photos of him crying, and references of detox. On top of this, Bieber unfollowed a mass of people on Instagram, including his wife (temporarily) and a number of his close friends. This led many to question his well-being, his mental health, and the state of his personal life.
So, what’s the deal with Justin Bieber? While we can’t say for sure, we can look to the source—Justin Bieber himself—to try and understand how the artist is doing mentally and emotionally. Let’s explore a timeline of quotes from Justin Bieber about his mental health—and look at where he is today.
2017: Justin Bieber Cancels Shows to Focus on Mental Health
In his early 20s, Justin Bieber brought his world tour to an abrupt end due to struggles with mental health. After being on the road for two years, playing 150 shows across 40 countries, the musician made the difficult choice to cancel the remaining 14 shows of his Purpose World Tour so that he could rest. He explained in an Instagram post:
“I’ve learned the more you appreciate your calling the more you want to protect your calling… Me taking this time right now is me saying I want to be SUSTAINABLE… so that I can be the man I want to be, the husband I eventually want to be, and the father I want to be.”
Later on, after news of the cancellations settled, Justin Bieber took to Instagram again to shed more light on the situation:
“I’ve toured my whole teenage life, and early 20s, I realized and as you guys probably saw I was unhappy last tour and I don’t deserve that and you don’t deserve that. You pay money to come and have a lively, energetic, fun, light concert and I was unable emotionally to give you that near the end of the tour.”
2019: Justin Bieber Becomes More Candid About His Mental Health
Justin Bieber has long been open about his mental health, but 2019 was when a lot more of his struggles came to light. Flooding his Instagram profile, for example, were emotional posts detailing his unhappiness, disconnection, negative mindset, and deep-seated issues. Here are some examples.
On personal struggles: “Just wanted to keep you guys updated a little bit hopefully what I’m going through will resonate with you guys. Been struggling a lot. Just feeling super disconnected and weird. I always bounce back so I’m not worried just wanted to reach out and ask for your guys to pray for me. God is faithful and ur prayers really work thanks…the most human season I’ve ever been in facing my stuff head on.”
On prioritizing his health: “I have been looking, seeking, trial and error as most of us do, I am now very focused on repairing some of the deep-rooted issues that I have as most of us have, so that I don’t fall apart, so that I can sustain my marriage and be the father I want to be. Music is very important to me but Nothing comes before my family and my health.”
On having a support system: “It is hard to get out of bed in the morning with the right attitude when you are overwhelmed with your life, your past, job, responsibilities, emotions, your family, finances, your relationships. When it feels like there’s trouble after trouble after trouble. You start foreseeing the day though lenses of ‘dread’ and anticipate another bad day. A cycle of feeling disappointment after disappointment. Sometimes it can even get to the point where you don’t want to live anymore. Where you feel like it’s never going to change. I can fully sympathize with you. I could not change my mindset. I am fortunate to have people in life that continue to encourage me to keep going.”
It was in 2019 that we also learned Justin Bieber was in therapy for mental health struggles. A source told US Magazine that Bieber was seeing therapist regularly, but not in a formal treatment program. “He doesn’t want to be dependent on medication. He struggles with ups and downs, anxiety, depression and uncertainty about the future.”
2020: Drug Use Becomes Bieber’s Coping Mechanism
Like many people struggling with symptoms of depression and anxiety, Bieber turned to drugs to cope with the negative feelings. While this was likely going on for an extended period of time, it was in his 2020 docushort (Justin Bieber: Sessions) when he admitted that he used a lot of heavy drugs to escape.
MDMA and hallucinogenic mushrooms were some of his regular substances of choice, which he eventually had to stop because he felt like he was “dying.”
“My security would come into my room at night to check my pulse. People don’t know how serious it got. It was legit crazy, scary. I was waking up in the morning and the first thing I was doing was popping pills and smoking a blunt and starting my day. It just got scary.”
The star had also been prescribed Adderall to concentrate throughout the day (due to lack of sleep at night), but it began causing him anxiety. He often abused Xanax to escape reality.
2022: Devastating Health Diagnosis & Emotional Breakdown
In June 2022, Justin Bieber started experiencing scary symptoms of paralysis and was soon diagnosed with a condition called Ramsay Hunt Syndrome. The syndrome causes facial paralysis by affecting the nerves in the face, following an infection. The musician had to cancel his Justice tour so that he could focus on rest and recovery.
On top of these physical health struggles, Justin Bieber was also struggling emotionally at this time. He said in an interview with Apple Music in 2022: “It’s hard sometimes to look in the mirror and really have to realize, man, maybe you’re not the person that you necessarily thought that you were. And that’s just a result of trauma and life circumstances.”
The trauma that Bieber referred to was related to his early rise to fame and pressure he faced as a child in the spotlight. He admitted that he previously self-medicated with “heavy drugs” to cope with it all.
“You notice a lot of touring bands and people end up having a phase of drug abuse, and I believe it’s due to not being able to manage the huge ups and downs that come with being an entertainer.”
2025: Justin Bieber Faces Ongoing Mental Health Challenges
Let’s jump to the last six months or so, a time marked by Bieber’s full independence to now own his music, his image, and his narrative. The star has taken to his Instagram, once again, to talk about the current obstacles he’s facing in his life—feelings of inauthenticity, anger, and more.
In March 2025, he wrote: “I think I hate myself sometimes when I feel myself start to become inauthentic. Then I remember we’re all being made to think we’re not enough but I still hate when I change myself to please people.”
That same day, he wrote, “I got anger issues too, but I wanna grow and not react so much.”
In June 2025: “People keep telling me to heal. Don’t you think if I could have fixed myself I would have already? I know I’m broken. I know I have anger issues… I tried to do the work my whole life to be like the people who told me I needed to be fixed like them. And it just keeps making me more tired and more angry. The harder I try to grow, the more focussed on myself I am.”
This brings us to where we are today: July 2025, the month of Justin Bieber’s new album release and a new look at what’s bene going on in the artist’s life, through the lens of music. One of the most interesting tracks on Swag? A song called “Therapy.”
“That’s been a tough thing for me recently, is feeling like I’ve had to go through a lot of my struggles as a human really publicly, so people are always asking if I’m ok, and that starts to really weigh on me… It starts to make me feels like I’m the only one with issues and everyone else is perfect.”
In other posts this year, Bieber shared feelings of being “unworthy,” and that he’s “drowning and unsafe.”
Is Justin Bieber Okay?
There’s no way for us to really know what’s going on with Justin Bieber. However, we do know from his history that he’s up against some chronic mental health conditions. Anxiety and depression, along with deep-seated trauma, can trigger negative thought patterns, feelings of inadequacy, low self-worth, shame, and anger issues when left unaddressed—symptoms that are all apparent through his recent Instagram posts.
At the same time, though, we know that recovery from mental health disorders is a journey. It takes time to learn effective coping strategies, to re-build trust in humanity, and to begin to love oneself again. It takes time to heal your mind, body, and spirit. Justin Bieber is working towards that goal—and he is not going to let the noise get in the way of what matters.
Committed to his recovery, he’s said: “I know, ultimately, it’s not only for me, but being the best me is going to help me be the best husband, the best father, the best friend I can possibly be.”
Anyone can be affected by mental health struggles and substance abuse, including celebrities who seemingly have “it all.” Justin Bieber continues to face mental health challenges, like the millions of other people affected by conditions like anxiety or depression. If you too are struggling, and seeking professional support, we are here for you.
Turnbridge is a recognized mental health treatment center for young women and young men in recovery. Call us at 877-581-1793 to learn more today.