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Thursday, October 19, 2017 5:04am ET by  
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Michelle Williams on getting rid of the stigma around mental health issues

She may have been at the height of her fame but Michelle Williams - a former member of one of America's most successful girl group's, Destiny's Child - has opened up about feeling suicidal and battling with mental health issues during her time with the trio.

The singer appeared on the US show The Talk yesterday (October 18), where she opened up about wanting to "normalise" the discussion around mental health issues, explaining about her own ongoing struggle and how it first began when she was only thirteen. Williams revealed:

“For years, I’m in one of the top-selling female groups of all time, suffering with depression.

“It got really really bad… to the point of, I was suicidal.

“I went to that place where it got so dark and heavy because sometimes you feel like ‘I’m the provider, I take care of people, I’m not supposed to be feeling this way - what do I do?’ I wanted out.”

The singer, who had joined Destiny's Child at the young age of 20, said that her experience inspired her to speak out in an attempt to get rid of the negative stigma around mental health.

She admitted that when she disclosed her depression at the time to her manager, Beyoncé's father, Matthew Knowles, she felt as though she should have been grateful for all of her success, and as much as her manager was sympathetic, he just didn't seem to understand what she had to be depressed about as he had just signed a multimillion-dollar deal, they were about to head out on tour and everything seemed to be going well for the star and the group.

Listen to Michelle Williams on The Talk yesterday (October 18), and in action with Destiny's Child, below:

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