For many in our culture, Taylor Swift is a projection of the best — and worst — of us all. We see Swift in ourselves, and we see ourselves in Swift. With her, we have loved, we have lost, we have laughed and we have mourned.
As a child-focused clinical psychologist in training, Swift and her music have been a consistent character in my psychotherapy sessions with patients. One of my young patients even recently boldly told me during session: “You’ve taught me a lot, but it would be better if Taylor Swift were my therapist.” And in many ways, Swift is like a colleague of mine, helping guide treatment through therapy techniques. Together, my patients and I explore the ways in which Swift writes about her experiences of anxiety, depression, friendship challenges and self-esteem.
In recent years, Swift has bravely let us in on her own, vicarious, or possibly fictional, experiences through lyrics related to suicidality in her songs. In “Folklore” and “This is Me Trying,” she uses powerful imagery of what some may interpret as a moment considering, and ultimately surviving, suicidal ideation:
“Pulled the car off the road to the lookout/Could’ve followed my fears all the way down.”
When the album “Red (Swift’s Version)” was released, many fans resonated with her lyrics in the song “Forever Winter” as being about the narrator’s experience processing the death of a friend by suicide. In the United States, it is estimated that for every person who dies by suicide, 135 people are exposed to the death — and this may confer very serious health consequences, including suicidal ideation. Suicide bereaved individuals may relate to Swift’s experiences of grief and self-blame:
“If I was standing there in your apartment/I’d take that bomb in your head and disarm it/I’d say I love you even at your darkest and/Please don’t go”
However, never before has Swift so explicitly addressed suicidality in her work as in the title track on “The Tortured Poet’s Department,” her new album. In these lyrics, she highlights an unfortunately all-too-common experience of relationship breakup leading to increased suicidal ideation. She sings:
“Sometimes I wonder if you’re gonna screw this up with me/But you told Lucy that you’d kill yourself if I ever leave/And I had said that to Jack about you, so I felt seen”
I am grateful to Swift for continuing the conversation regarding thoughts of suicide, reminding us all that these are conversations that should not remain hidden or behind closed doors. These experiences should be hers to freely share and claim in her art and contribute toward the reduction of stigma surrounding these conversations.
Swift has a powerful opportunity to raise awareness of suicide-related mental health resources and even help fund the cause. Similarly, celebrities such as the rapper Logic, who have arguably less influence than Swift, have attached resources to songs with heavy themes. In Logic’s case, this even involved naming one of his songs “1-800-273-8255” after the former national suicide and crisis lifeline phone number.
I think of my young patients who identify deeply with Swift and who have explicitly listed her album releases as a reason to live in the face of crisis. I am confident that Swift’s endorsement of suicide-focused resources could give people like them the courage to reach out knowing that their greatest inspiration, and para-social best friend, have faced and overcome similar challenges. There is a vital opportunity for Swift to show us all how moments of suicidal ideation should not be filled with shame, and that we all have the ability to learn alternative ways of coping in moments of despair.
If you listen to Taylor Swift’s new work and find yourself in the middle of a familiar experience, know you are not alone. Help is available and there is hope. If you are in a suicidal crisis, you can call or text the 24-hour National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline number at 988.
Haley Hintz is a clinical psychology doctoral student at Eastern Kentucky University. She wrote this for The Charlotte (N.C.) Observer.