Michelle Williams Says ‘Beyonce & Kelly Had No Idea’ She Suffered Depression In Destiny’s Child, Confesses She Thought About Quitting: Maybe I’m Not Talented

Destiny’s Child Circa 2004

Michelle Williams Says ‘Beyonce & Kelly Had No Idea’ She Suffered Depression In Destiny’s Child, Confesses She Thought About Quitting: Maybe I’m Not Talented

Michelle Williams is extremely open about her struggle with depression, but two of her closest friends and Destiny’s Child groupmates had no clue how bad things were for her during her time in the popular trio.

In her new book Checking In: How Getting Real About Depression Saved My Life – and Can Save Yours, Michelle Williams opens up about her battle with depression while in Destiny’s Child.

She wrote of their friendship,

“Our connection is real and it’s brought life to me in some of my darkest moments. And still, even living the absolute dream I was living, with two of the most amazing women as coworkers and best friends, there would be pitch-black dark moments.”

She compared depression to a feeling of “numbness”, adding:

“It’s this pervasive sense of nothing-matters-and-nothing-ever-will-really-matter that lingers in the background of every moment. When it’s like that I could sleep for a decade.”

While she described her “toe-tapping, hall-pacing anxiety” that had her “awake all night,” she also confessed she was “too busy, too focused, too distracted” to dig deeper at the time, possibly causing her Destiny’s Child sisters to be oblivious to what was going on.

“Beyoncé and Kelly had no idea what I was struggling with, but that’s on me. I never said a word to the two of them. I’m not even sure I had the vocabulary to say how I felt at that time.”

Michelle Williams, Beyonce, Kelly Rowland circa 2014

Michelle Williams infamously joined Destiny’s Child in 2000. She was the newbie of the group after former members LaTavia Roberson and LeToya Luckett departed. To this day it isn’t clear what caused the split. Michelle Williams opened up about her role in the group and how she was perceived.

“For a lot of folks, it was Beyoncé, Kelly, and ‘that other girl.’ [I]dealt with an enormous amount of anxiety.”

She said she often thought,

“Maybe they’re right. Maybe I should quit. Maybe I’m not talented. Maybe I am a joke.”

She was ultimately diagnosed with depression when she was 30 years old, years after Destiny’s Child went their separate ways in 2006.

Fortunately, it looks like she’s in a much better place today.

What are your thoughts on Michelle Williams’ experience? Comment and let us know.