Fans are worried about singer Sinead O’Connor after she posted a video to social media.
The 12-and-a-half minute video, posted on Aug. 3, has continued to gain views—and concern—in the days since.
In the video, which was viewed nearly two million times as of Wednesday, the 50-year-old performer tearfully discussed her mental illness.
“People who suffer from mental illness are the most vulnerable people on Earth,” the singer told fans. “You’ve got to take care of us. We’re not like everybody.”
Posted with the hashtag #OneOfMillions, O’Connor said she hoped her video “is somehow helpful.”
“Not actually to me, but the fact that I know that I’m only one of millions of millions of millions of people who are just like me actually who don’t have necessarily the resources that I have in my heart or my purse for that matter,” she told viewers.
O’Connor went on to say that she feels as though she is being punished for suffering from mental illness. She shared that her support consists of her psychiatrist and doctor, saying that they were the only ones “keeping her alive.”
“Suddenly, all the people who are supposed to be loving you or taking care of you treat you like s***,” said the singer. “If it was me, I’d be gone straight away back to my mom.”
The post follows on the heels of a mess and bitter legal battle in Ireland with her manager and former lover, who is suing her for £450,000 (approximately $580,000 in U.S. dollars.) In the video, O’Connor revealed that she was living alone out of a Travelodge hotel in “the a**-end of New Jersey,” prompting fans to rush to her location in Hackensack.
Police also arrived at the motel to check on the welfare of the embattled singer.
After torrents of online responses to the video, including one from fellow singer Annie Lennox, there was another post on O’Connor’s page. The post read, “Hi everybody, I am posting at Sinead’s request, to let everyone who loves her know she is safe, and she is not suicidal. She is surrounded by love and receiving the best of care. She asked for this to be posted knowing you are concerned for her. I won’t respond to any questions, so please understand. I hope this comforts those of you were concerned.”
By Wednesday, The Daily Mail reported that the singer and divorced mother of four had been hospitalized in New Jersey.
This most recent video isn’t the first time O’Connor’s social media posts have caused fans to be concerned about her.
In 2015, the singer posted a string of strange and troubling messages to social media, the last of which said that she had “taken an overdose.”
“The last two nights finished me off,” she said, continuing, “There is no other way to get respect. I am not at home, I’m at a hotel, somewhere in Ireland, under another name.”
That incident followed her divorce and subsequent custody battle with Irish folk musician Dónal Lunny, the father of O’Connor’s youngest son.
Clearly, she’s been through a lot. Ultimately, we hope to see O’Connor continue to fight the stigma of mental illness and improve her mental health and well-being.
