Ebe Dancel talks about mental health, stage fright

Ebe Dancel is back, and he’s not afraid to talk about his struggles with mental health.

The Filipino singer-songwriter—who is responsible for some of the most beloved love songs in OPM history—opened up about his bout with anxiety and depression on the latest episode of “Quarantined with Howie Severino.”

During the interview, Ebe Dancel revealed he was diagnosed with depression and anxiety disorder, and he had been struggling with it for a while.

“The sadness lingers. It weighs me down. It paralyzes me and no matter how hard I try to move sometimes, talagang I’m literally frozen in bad. Ganoon. Naninigas ako. ’Yon ang pagkaka-explain ng doktor sa akin,” he explained.

“Tapos meron din akong bouts of emptiness. You know? Wala akong nararamdaman. No pain, no happiness. Sadness is just ... there are days I wake up totally empty.”

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People would often ask Ebe how he was able to cope with his condition, but he encouraged them to “seek help and accept” before anything else.

“The bravest people I know are the ones who are not afraid to ask for help. And they’ve led by example, all the people I look up to,” he said.

Ebe was also humbled to receive such kind words of encouragement from fans.

“One of the greatest blessings of being a musician such as myself is that I received actual letters from people through email or my Facebook page or to Instagram, Twitter, saying that, ‘You know this specific song of yours spoke to me during a very dark time and it made me live for another day. It made me cope. It made me look forward to better days even if it’s not tomorrow that I’m confident that it will happen and that I’m not alone,” he said.

He also said a doctor once told him he was an “ultra-introvert.” Ebe recalled being “frozen” in front of thousands of people during a live performance in 2018.

“I remember libu-libo ’yong tao, tapos sa gitna no’ng kanta, hindi na ako maka-strum ng guitar. So parang nakita ko ’yong kamay ko nanginginig. Tapos mamaya pati ’yong kaliwang kamay ko nanginginig na. So tumalikod muna ako tapos I was trying to shake it off,” he recalled.

“Tinapos ko ’yong show pero talagang hirap na hirap na akong huminga. Feeling ko sumisikip ’yong mundo ko tapos naiiyak na ako pero ayoko namang umiyak sa harap ng maraming tao kasi nagbayad naman sila nang maayos para panoorin akong kumanta. At ’yon ang kailangan kong gawin,” he added.

It was after this show when Ebe decided to “take a break” from music.

“Pag baba ko ng stage, meron akong naramdaman na parang sweet relief tapos nakangiti ako tapos sinabi ko shortly after sa I think sa manager ko o sa roadie ko, sabi ko, ‘I’m done. Okay na. I need to... I can’t do this anymore.’”

Fortunately, Ebe found his way back into his love for music.

In fact, he made a stunning comeback in February with a successful concert with the Manila String Machine.

The OPM legend was actually looking forward to reconnect with his fans through several live shows this year but, as we all know, the coronavirus pandemic hit a great big pause button on live music events in the Philippines. – RC, GMA News