Camila Cabello: 'I struggled with obsessive-compulsive disorder and anxiety'

Pop star Camila Cabello credits her mother with helping her deal with her obsessive-compulsive disorder and anxiety issues.

The former Fifth Harmony star began experiencing mental health issues in 2015 and turned to books for help, so she could understand what she was going through.

"I had terrible OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder), and it was just totally out of control," she tells Latina magazine. "I would wake up with a super-accelerated heartbeat and really negative, intrusive, compulsive thoughts. I was so inside my head, and I didn't know what was happening.

"I totally understand now, being in it, why there shouldn't be such a stigma on mental illness, because it's a pretty common thing for people. But you can get help. If you're dedicated to making it better, you can... I'm in a much better place now. I started reading books about it and it really helped a lot when I understood, and that (the thoughts I was having) weren't real. Sometimes you have to remind yourself to slow down and take care of yourself."

Camila's mom also helped by making sure her daughter realized what was important in life.

"My mom is my best friend, I can tell her anything," she says. "Because she's gone through so much in her life, she knows what's important and what's not. I feel like, in the industry, there are beautiful, amazing things. But the only thing that I love about this is making music. Everything else can be very empty and very draining, soulless. My mom's always been good about leading me to what's real..."

Camila's mental health struggles went public last year (Sep16) when she was still part of Fifth Harmony, after she walked off stage in the middle of a concert in Missouri. She later blamed her anxiety.