Camila Cabello Opens Up About Living With Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

"No matter how many times I get to the resolution, I feel like something bad is about to happen if I don’t keep thinking about it," the "Never Be the Same" singer explains

By Diana Marti May 01, 2018 3:06 PMTags
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Camila Cabello is about to have the best summer, ever.

The singer is in the middle of her Never Be the Same Tour and then will go off to join Taylor Swift for her Reputation Tour. 

"I love her. We just talk about boys," the 21-year-old star says about the "Delicate" singer exclusively to Cosmopolitan UK. "She loves love, and we love talking about it. It's fun to just vent and talk and dream." 

And during both world tours, Cabello will have the support from her friend Swift and her mother, who is always with her when she's away from home. 

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"It's the hardest part--being away from my family. I would never want to move to LA because I can't live away from them. [So, when she travels, her mom goes with her] It's really nice, she's my best friend," Cabello explains. "My other half. There's something about being with your mom. You just feel like a kid. And your family doesn't care if you've messed up or you flopped or if your song tanked. They love you no matter what and that's so important to me."

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Beauty Beat: Camila Cabello

The singer also opened up about living with OCD, obsessive-compulsive disorder. 

"OCD is weird. I laugh about it now. Everybody has different ways of handling stress," she explains. "And, for me, if I get really stressed thinking about something, I'll start to have the same thought over and over again, and no matter how many times I get to the resolution, I feel like something bad is about to happen if I don't keep thinking about it. I didn't know what it was and when I found out, and [learned] how to step back from it, it made me feel so much better. I feel so much more in control of it now. To the point where I'm just like, 'Aha! OK, this is just my OCD.' I'll ask my mom a question for the fourth time, and she'll be like, 'That's OCD. You've got to let it go.'"

Cabello's ambition is her drive for success, and it's safe to say it's worked! 

"Don't ever get comfortable. No matter what anybody says to me, I know that I need more than one good album to have a career," she says. "Even when somebody tells me statistics and numbers that are amazing, I remind myself that if you can't keep it up for 15 years like the greatest people have done [then]...That's why I look to people like Prince and Madonna because it reminds me, 'You've got a lot to do, honey, before you can ever stop learning and growing.' Never let it go to your head and always remind yourself how much better you need to be." 

The singer also told the magazine that the money isn't the reason behind her career. In fact, it isn't a priority for her at all. 

"I hate the word 'money'. I just don't...my worst fear is making an album for it to sell a lot or be super successful. I don't want to be the person that's making songs in the studio saying, 'Radio is going to love this' or 'We're going to be rich after this song,'" she explains. "That's just so cringey to me. Because, for me, music is not my business, it's my life. I just need enough to make my family and me good and comfortable, and that's been such a huge blessing for me to be able to do that for them." 

The former Fifth Harmony member reflected on what it's been like for her to leave the group and do it all on her own. 

"It still feels good...I loved making all the decisions because the product was something that was fully representative of me," she says. "It's like making coffee or breakfast. It tastes better than going to a restaurant, because it's yours, because you made it. That's what it felt like for me."

Cabello's full interview appears in the June 2018 issue of Cosmopolitan, on sale Thursday.