Jada Pinkett Smith is "proud" of her daughter for opening up about self harm.
The 47-year-old actress was shocked when her daughter Willow, 17, told her back in May during an episode of her Facebook Watch show ‘Red Table Talk’ that she had previously spent time cutting herself, but how says she’s impressed the teenager managed to be so open about her struggles, and could "get herself out" of that dark place on her own.
Speaking about her initial reaction to the news during an appearance on ‘The MOMS Podcast’ on Tuesday (23.10.18), Jada said: "I wanted to make sure she was OK. We went through what happened, and in the moment I realised, as a mother you also have to give your children space to deal with their own shadow.
"I focused more on how she got herself out versus what got her there. I was most proud about that she could share it in the way she did, which let me know she had come through in a major way that she could put it on the table like that. I wanted to focus on what [it was] that got her through. I really talked to her about her powering side of her journey and give her all the praise in the world for that part, instead of focusing on ‘Why didn’t you tell me?’"
Willow – whom Jada has with her husband Will Smith, with whom she also has 20-year-old son Jaden – admitted on her mother’s talk show that she had begun to self harm following the success of her 2010 single ‘Whip My Hair’, which was released when she was just 10 years old.
She said: "I would have to say I honestly feel like I lost my sanity at one point. It was after that whole ‘Whip My Hair’ thing and I had just stopped doing singing lessons and I was kind of just in this grey area of, ‘Who am I? Do I have a purpose? Is there anything I can do besides this?’" Willow said at the time. "After the tour and the promotion and all of that … they wanted me to finish my album. And I was like, ‘I’m not gonna do that.’"
"After all of that kind of settled down, and it was, like, a lull, I was listening to a lot of dark music and it was just so crazy, and I was just plunged into this black hole and I was, like, cutting myself and doing crazy things.
"I honestly felt like I was experiencing so much emotional pain but my physical circumstances weren’t reflecting that. One night I was like, this is actually psychotic and after that I just stopped. It’s been, like, five years."
Jada Pinkett Smith ‘proud’ of daughter Willow for opening up on self harm
