Joe Jonas is opening up about the professional disappointment that fundamentally drove him to prioritize his mental health.
On the latest episode of the Hey Jonas! podcast, the Jonas Brothers sat alongside one another to divulge into their success and the hardships that come with growing up in a popular band. During the conversation, Joe ended up revealing that the commercial response to his first solo album was what initially led him to seek professional help.
“The reason I started doing therapy is because of the first taste of, like, not achieving ‘success,’” Joe says with air quotes, recalling the release of his 2011 solo debut, Fastlife. “I released a solo album when I was about 21, 22 and it didn’t do as well as I thought it would do because everything the Jonas Brothers touched back then, it would be gold. We would just … be a No. 1 [hit].”
Joe isn’t exaggerating the success of his band of brothers. Since their debut back in 2006, they have had 26 songs chart on the Billboard Hot 100, as well as eight albums enter the top 10 of the Billboard 200. Looking back, Joe admits he had attached too much of his self-worth to proving he could succeed apart from his brothers Kevin and Nick.
“I put something out by myself and I think I had a lot of high expectations of success without you guys,” he told his brothers. “That was important to me somewhere in my core. I was like, ‘If I do that, then I matter.’”
Unfortunately, emotional toll soon turned physical. Joe said he began experiencing panic attacks and persistent pain, resulting in constant visits to doctors. After multiple medical appointments, one physician thankfully assured him that nothing was wrong and suggested that he speak to a therapist, which he confesses was some advice he had previously resisted.
“I was like, ‘What do you mean a therapist? I don’t need a therapist. Why would I need a therapist?’” Joe admits.
Instead, he says he tried to cope with the mental turmoil by spending hours riding his bike through New York City, using the time away from his phone to avoid reading comments about the album. He confides in his brothers that it simply felt like the only way to distract himself, but it wasn’t a solution; he was still running away from the problem.
Eventually, Joe decided to give therapy a chance, quickly realizing how much he needed it.
“I finally spoke to somebody after crying through the first question for an hour, realized how great it was,” he said. “It definitely was so helpful during that season and it has been throughout my life and other major life things that I’ve gone through.”
Nick echoes his brother’s sentiments, piggybacking off of points brought up by Joe. Nick expands by saying therapy also helped him rethink how he measures something as subjective as success. Reflecting on the comments he made in a previous podcast episode, the youngest Jonas brother clarified that his struggles weren’t about comparing himself to others, but rather placing too much importance on achievement.
“I needed to be okay with myself,” Nick said. “I just needed to be able to look in the mirror and just be okay as a person, as opposed to comparing to others.”
Both brothers agreed therapy has been an essential guide to navigating the pressures of fame, and encouraged maintaining consistency with their mental health journeys.
Watch the full “Hey Jonas!” episode below.
