Singer Hayley Williams completed a secret stay in rehab following her split from fellow rocker Chad Gilbert after the stress of their divorce left her hospitalised.
The Paramore frontwoman called it quits with New Found Glory guitarist Chad in the summer of 2017, just over a year after tying the knot, and during their divorce proceedings, as they shared custody of their pet dog, Williams began suffering panic-inducing nightmares.
"I had to get therapy. I was having a lot of bad dreams. I still do," she told Vulture. "Now I think the dreams I have are my body processing things so my consciousness doesn't have to do it in the day, like it's working out the kinks."
Of her nightmares, she continued, "They're pretty f**ked. There's often water in my dreams. I've always written about relationships using water metaphors. My most memorable recurring dreams from childhood are all water related.
"I started to have a lot of those again (after the marriage split). It resulted in me having panic attacks, and I ended up in a hospital. I'd faint."
She subsequently sought professional treatment at an undisclosed medical facility, where she was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression.
"It's been a slow lesson for me - how much power our emotions have on our physical health. It started to happen because I was in denial," the 31 year old shared.
"I found a facility where I could go and be in a safe group or by myself and talk... Talk therapy has been more important for me than medicine."
Openly discussing her mental health has also helped Williams understand why she rushed to the altar with Gilbert, with whom she'd had an affair while he was already married.
"I went through with the marriage because I had a lot of shame about mistakes I'd made," she confessed. "I got into that relationship prematurely. He was not divorced (from his previous wife) yet. I was very lonely."
"I started making bad decisions: running, looking for the right door," she added. "Ten years trying to redeem one terrible mistake will send you to a lot of wrong doors, including directly down the aisle."
