Up-and-coming Artist Corook Gets Candid on Healing Mental Health Through Music

For music artist Corook, a huge life change helped her understand that she needed help with her mental health. Corook is a singer-songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist. She grew up in Pittsburgh where she found her queer identity and her passion for music by listening to songs from artists like Drake, Gwen Stefani, and Mac Miller. But moving from her hometown to Nashville took a toll on her mental health.

In the Love, Me series, Corook recalls that, "a couple years ago, my partner and I were living together and she was going through therapy and she was going through a lot, and I saw what she was doing and hearing what she talked about, all the things in her life that have affected her today and I realized that I had a lot to talk about too. Like maybe I need some help too."

She understood that becoming an adult had caused her anxiety and depression. What she didn't realize was that she had been coping with anxiety since she was a child and didn't know how to recognize what was happening to her. But by being given the tools to understand her mental health, Corook is not only living healthier but using her music to help herself and others.

The artist shares that "music was my first tool in healing. I didn't know it was a tool, but looking back at my journey, I realized how instrumental music was for my mental health. One of the main themes in my music is loneliness, and at first, I was afraid that people would think of me as a cry-baby, but I realized the more specific I get with my journey, the more people relate to what I'm singing about."

When crafting her new song "it's ok," she wanted to share that everyone is just trying their best at life and that is enough to feel happy. What she didn't realize was that other people would resonate strongly with this and find community with one another, feeling less alone than they were before.

"I wrote this song with the intention of making a lullaby for myself," shares Corook. "It's for the days I have a hard time getting out of bed or when my worries take over the day. When I posted a clip of this song on TikTok, I wasn't really sure what to expect. I think the most interesting response was the number of people taking videos of themselves in bed singing the song. It felt like a really simple but meaningful sign of solidarity like 'Yes, I do that too.' Watching those made me feel so much less alone in this feeling. I hope this song is a reminder that your only task of the day is to do what you can and to please yourself."

Discover more stories on Out, The Advocate, HIVPlusMag, and PRIDE about how queer people are navigating their mental health journeys and overcoming their experiences in the Love, Me series.

If you have or are contemplating suicide, please know there is a well of support out there to help. The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at (800) 273-8255 can be reached 24 hours a day by people of all ages and identities. If you are a trans or gender-nonconforming person considering suicide, the Trans Lifeline can be reached at (877) 565-8860. The Trevor Project is the world's largest suicide prevention and crisis intervention organization for LGBTQ+ youth (ages 24 and younger). Trained counselors at the Trevor Project Lifeline can be reached 24/7 at (866) 488-7386, by texting START to 678678, or via the TrevorChat instant messaging service at TheTrevorProject.org/Help.