LeAnn Rimes Experienced ‘Some Pretty Heavy Depression’ During the Pandemic

Millions of people around the world struggled with their mental health last year when the COVID-19 pandemic began, and LeAnn Rimes found herself in that group. During an appearance on The Verywell Mind Podcast with Editor-in-Chief Amy Morin, LCSW, Rimes discussed her experience over the last year, sharing that she struggled with “some pretty heavy depression.”

“[I had] some pretty heavy depression, but I’ve now come out of it,” she said in a clip shared by PEOPLE. “And the upside of that, which has been good. [It helps to get] a different perspective, because sometimes we can be in our own world and not be able to step out of it. So, I’ve always found that therapy definitely helps with that.” “It’s not about an end game,” she added. “It’s like, this is the human journey.”

As restrictions have begun lifting, the Grammy winner has been able to get back on stage and perform, though she shared that she was “triggered” during her first concert since the pandemic after having such a long break. “I don’t think I’ve ever been off the road for 16 months like this at one point for a solid period of time,” Rimes noted. “I went back out to do my first show recently in front of thousands of people. I was so triggered.”

“I’m like, oh my God, the experience that I’m having right now is so intense. And it was also like, nothing happened. I walked out, it’s like riding a bike, it didn’t feel like there were 16 months in between,” she continued, adding, “I recognized when I went out, how unhealthy some of this [was]. I’m like, this is not the normal experience that I’m supposed to be having. And I’ve been having this heightened, energetic experience for my whole life.”

While it was “quite shocking” for her to get back on stage, Rimes explained that “It’s been really good for me, this time to understand like, oh, there is a different way of experiencing the world.”

“I have my whole life, on the road, I’ve never had this much time at home. Like my nervous system was just like, ‘What are we doing?’ Even though I meditate and do all the things like I’m still, there was still this kind of energy that’s always on,” she added of her time at home. “That really kind of is my baseline. So, when that got taken away, the false security of having a job my whole life, like having all the things removed and I was terrified as everyone else, including feeling like you’re going to walk out your door and die.”