AceShowbiz - Lainey Wilson, the Grammy-winning country singer, has shared an intimate look into her struggle with anxiety and depression as her career skyrocketed starting around 2020. In her new Netflix documentary, Lainey Wilson: Keepin' Country Cool, the 33-year-old artist candidly reflects on the emotional toll that came with sudden success after years of hard work in the music industry.

“A couple years ago was wild. Everything I'd ever dreamed about kinda happened all at once,” she reveals early in the film, which begins streaming Wednesday, April 22. "When opportunities come at you and you didn't have any for so long, you wanna just take 'em all. And I guess a little bit of that was probably fear that they weren't always gonna be there." This fear, she explains, pushed her to seek validation through her career, causing her to lose touch with who she was off stage.

Lainey Wilson admits she experienced a profound identity crisis. “I think I was not feeling [like] myself for a couple years,” she confesses. “I had reached a point where I was just like, 'I don't know if I'll ever be the same.' I was extremely anxious, and the anxiousness caused depression, and it's like the depression caused more anxiousness because I was like, 'Why in the world am I depressed during this time of my life? This is everything I've ever wanted.'

Her mental health struggles culminated in multiple breakdowns. “I was just losing it. I was like, 'I don't know if I can go any further,'” she says. One particularly frightening moment was when she called her manager, Mandelyn Monchick, from an airport, crying and feeling like she was "losing [her] mind." Monchick recalls the panic attack lasted several days, during which Lainey Wilson even performed shows despite her intense anxiety.

“I thought I was not gonna come back from that either,” Lainey Wilson remembers. “It was a solid panic attack for, like, multiple days. And I had played shows and everything while I was having the panic attack. It was terrifying. It was a chemical imbalance happening. I was, like, spiraling out of control. And then it's the fear of thinking that you're always gonna be stuck in that mindset - it causes more anxiety. It's just, like, a vicious cycle.”

Despite those challenges, Lainey Wilson eventually began to regain control as her career stabilized. “I was putting so much pressure on myself to get it right, to be right, to be perfect, to show up, sing the damn song, look good doing it. All of these things to where it just, like, kept piling stress on top of me,” she admits with emotion in the documentary. “And I think once I realized that I can't completely screw it up, like, say I hit a bad note, say I don't look the best - I think just knowing that I found my place and I ain't going anywhere, I feel like now that I've, like, put my stake in the ground, it definitely takes some stress off.”

Lainey Wilson also credits advice from one of her idols, country legend Reba McEntire, for helping her put things into perspective. The two collaborated with Miranda Lambert last year on the single "Trailblazer," and Lainey Wilson reflects on a conversation with Reba McEntire about perseverance. “I said, 'This is a loaded question, but what do you do when you feel like you can't go any further?'” she recalls. “And she said, 'I do it for somebody else.' And that right there has put so much in perspective for me. I get on that stage and I do it for other people.”

Her journey from a small-town performer to a country music star was marked by an unforgettable moment. She recalls preparing for a show at the New York State Fair and seeing fans setting up lawn chairs outside. “Then before I went on stage, somebody came on the bus and was like, 'You're not gonna believe how many people are out there.' That was one of the first moments for me where I was like, 'Click your boots together - we're not in Baskin anymore.'”

Lainey Wilson: Keepin' Country Cool offers viewers an honest portrayal of the highs and lows that accompany rapid success. It highlights her vulnerability, her struggles with mental health, and ultimately, her resilience in the face of overwhelming pressure.

With the support of her team, mentors like Reba McEntire, and a new outlook on her career, Lainey Wilson continues to thrive. Her story stands as a powerful reminder that behind every shining star is a human being navigating the complex emotions that come with chasing and achieving dreams.