Elle King Has a Reminder for Anyone Who Thinks Their Emotional Pain Will Never Let Up

Emotional pain is virtually universal. Most of us experience deep emotional pain at various points in our lives. When you live with a mental illness like depression or post-traumatic stress disorder, it can seem like emotional pain is there to stay. The “Ex’s and Oh’s” singer Elle King is here to remind us that it doesn’t have to be that way.

• What is PTSD?

King, who is also the daughter of comedian Rob Schneider, spoke with People about her depression, PTSD and substance abuse and what led her to ultimately reach out to a PTSD specialist for help.

“I got help because I knew that I have felt good in my life and I knew I could get there again,” she told the magazine.

Depression can feel like it’s forever, but it doesn’t have to be. It may be hard to feel like yourself after a traumatic experience, but healing is possible. For many like King, reaching out for help can show us that we can feel better and even “good” again.

“I think that reaching out saved my life,” she said. “I don’t wanna think of any other outcome that could have happened. I feel like the more I talk about it, maybe it could reach somebody … reach somebody that feels alone.”

King said the last year almost “broke” her, and she dealt with depression and PTSD around the time she split from her husband, Andrew Ferguson, whom she married after knowing for a few weeks. Ferguson was arrested in April 2017 for domestic violence against King.

“I was in a destructive marriage,” King told People. “I was at the lowest point in my life. I was not well. I couldn’t look people in the eyes. I literally couldn’t leave my house for weeks at a time.”

Though King began receiving help for her mental health, she said she was still trying to mask the emotions she couldn’t handle with alcohol and other substances.

“I was partying so hard to numb emotions that I couldn’t handle at the time,” she said. “I realized it was just prolonging the inevitable of dealing with them. And what you have to do, unfortunately, is just feel them, and that sucks.”

King is releasing her second album “Shake the Spirit” Friday, which she said will be her way of sharing her story and a part of her healing process.