Natalie Grant is using the power of music to start important conversations. One of those topics is around mental health, something the Christian singer herself has dealt with. Grant has been open about her battle with postpartum depression after the birth of her daughter Sadie in 2011. She expresses that struggle through a cover of “You Will Be Found” from Dear Evan Hansen, a Broadway-musical-turned-movie that centers around the subjects of suicide and social anxiety.
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Grant teamed up with fellow Christian singer Cory Asbury on a cover of the emotional song that’s featured on her latest album, Seasons. Below, Grant tells American Songwriter about her journey with depression and anxiety and how music has been a saving grace.
“It’s a sad reality of the moment we’re living in, but we’re living in an a divided moment. So politically divided, racially divided, religiously divided. Then in the world of social media, people are so loud and so bold when they feel anonymous. They feel very empowered behind a keyboard,” she relates. “And it feels like sometimes people can go, ‘Why did you record that song?’ [The] Dear Evan Hansen song was a perfect example from my own community. People were confused by that. ‘This song doesn’t talk about Jesus, why are you recording this song?’ I’m like, ‘Because this is an unbelievably incredible song, an incredible musical-turned-movie that deals with a very important topic that I’ve struggled with.’ It’s true to my own story.
[RELATED: Interview: Natalie Grant Brings Hope with ‘Seasons’]
“I struggled with postpartum depression after the birth of my third child and then it turned into just depression. I struggle with anxiety. I think that what we need is people to be honest about their struggles,” she continues. “I think when we put this idea out there that people of the Christian faith don’t like. … ‘If you just follow God, then you’ve got this.’ That’s just so not real life. If your life was perfect, you wouldn’t need to follow God. My faith is one of the things that helps to strengthen me, but also talking about real life issues and realizing that people all around us as well are struggling.
“You can look at people that you think have their life together, and then they’ve ended their life and you don’t even realize. What was the story? We didn’t even know they were struggling. It’s because they didn’t feel like they could be honest. I feel like moments like this and conversations like this help to remove that stigmatism and hopefully give people the courage to say, ‘I’m going to speak up about about the issues I’m facing.’”
Photo by Mindy Small/Getty Images
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