Lola Young makes reflective statement about mental health: 'Recovery doesn't necessarily mean drug recovery'

Lola Young has opened up about her struggles with addiction and mental health after time away from spotlight following her onstage collapse in September.

Speaking to The Sunday Times Style Magazine, the 25-year-old Grammy winner said her progress has been an “ongoing process,” adding that she is now doing “a hell of a lot better.” 

While she admitted her own recovery was particularly a "drug recovery", she stressed that the term "recovery" can mean different things.

 "I mean drugs recovery, yes. When you're in recovery… that doesn't necessarily need to mean drugs, but me specifically, yes," she told the magazine.

The singer took time away from the limelight after collapsing onstage at the All Things Go Music Festival in September. When asked where she was spending her time away during her break from professional commitments, she replied, "What I can tell you is that I was being looked after."

The British artist later revealed she stayed at a "holistic facility" focused on addiction and mental health. She is now attending AA.

Young also shared that she faced similar struggles while recording her 2024 album I'm Only F**king Myself. "There were a lot of things going on for me personally. I was going through a lot of mental health issues, a lot of battling with addiction," she added in her recent interview. 

The Messy hitmaker, who has previously checked into rehab to tackle a cocaine addiction, sang about her battle with cocaine addiction and her previous stints in rehab on her previous record.

The update comes after she cancelled all her tour shows and told fans on Instagram she would be stepping back to “work on herself.” She later addressed criticism over the cancellations, saying she chose to focus on her recovery.

"There was a bunch of hate, but you know what? F*** it," she told Rolling Stone.

Young, once nominated for five Brit Awards and won a Grammy for her song Messy, was diagnosed with Schizoaffective disorder at 17, something she says she was confusing with clinical depression and bipolar disorder. She explained that she had an uncle on either side of her family who also had schizophrenia and had tragically died.

Schizoaffective disorder is a mental health condition that is marked by a mix of schizophrenia symptoms, such as hallucinations and delusions, and mood disorder symptoms, such as depression, mania and a milder form of mania called hypomania, as per the NHS.