Shawn Mendes Stephen Lovekin/Shutterstock
Treating himself better. Shawn Mendes has postponed some of his upcoming live shows in order to focus on his mental health.
“This breaks my heart to have to say this, but unfortunately I’m going to have to postpone the next three weeks of shows through Uncasville, CT until further notice. I’ve been touring since I was 15 and to be honest it’s always been difficult to be on the road away from friends and family,” the 23-year-old Canadian crooner wrote in a message shared via Instagram on Friday, July 8. “After a few years off the road, I felt like I was ready to dive back in, but that decision was premature and unfortunately the toll of the road and the pressure has caught up to me and Ive hit a breaking point.”
Mendes added, “After speaking with my team and health professionals, I need to take some time to heal and take care of myself and my mental health, first and foremost. As soon as there are more updates I promise I will let you know love you guys.”
The “Stitches” singer has been candid in the past about his ups and downs with his mental health. In April, he penned a vulnerable note to his followers about struggling to embrace his true self.
“Sometimes I ask my self [sic] what it is that I should be doing with my life and what I always hear in return is ‘to tell the truth, to be the truth,’” he wrote at the time. “I feel like that’s a hard thing to do though. I’m afraid that if people know and see the truth they might think less of me. They might become bored of me.”
The “There’s Nothing Holding Me Back” artist admitted that he “constantly feels like he’s either flying or drowning,” predicting that some of his insecurity possibly stems from being in his 20s. “The truth is I really do wanna show up in the world as my 100% true honest unique self and not care what anyone thinks, sometimes I do!! Sometimes I really don’t care what people think and I feel free. Most of the time its [sic] a struggle [though]. That’s the truth,” he added.
Mendes said he felt compared to share his perspective because he thought it “might resonate with some people,” concluding by reassuring his fans that there was nothing to worry about. In a separate tweet, he wrote, “I’m honestly so okay! I just wanna communicate with you guys in a real honest way. so I just typed I big old note out for you lol. And I guess I’m like damn if I’m feeling this with all of the blessings I have I imagine there must be so many people feeling this and just don’t want them to feel alone !!”
The former Vine personality kicked off his Wonder tour in Portland, Oregon on June 27. He was scheduled to perform throughout the U.S. and Canada until October before heading overseas next spring.
News of Mendes’ break from tour comes less than one year after he and Camila Cabello split in November 2021. The musicians dated for two years before calling it quits. Both the Grammy nominee and the Cinderella actress, 25, have spoken openly about processing the end of their relationship in their own creative ways.
“Camila and I have always been writers for as long as we’ve known each other, so we understand what that means,” Mendes told Extra earlier this year. “And we respect what that means. And there’ll always be transparency between us.”
Cabello, for her part, recently got honest about taking her time when it comes to jumping back into the dating pool. “I don’t put a lot of focus on it,” she told Cosmopolitan UK this month. “I just really want to hang out with people, I want to make friends, and I’ve made a lot of great friends over the past year. … If something happens, then that’s really fun, but I don’t put any pressure on it.”
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