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Noah Kahan Gets Candid About 'Complicated' Self-Image Struggles

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Noah Kahan is opening up about his struggles with body dysmorphia.

The Stick Season musician, 29, shared a honest take about navigating self-image issues and the impact it has on his mental health in a vulnerable chat with Jay Shetty on the April 6 episode of the latter's On Purpose podcast, candidly stating, "I worry that I've just wasted so much time hating who I am," per People.

"Like I wake up and I'm like, 'Why do I feel like s---?' I'm pissed. It's a beautiful morning. The birds are f---ing chirping. It's beautiful outside. Career success aside, I have this lovely little life and I wish I could wake up and not be miserable for no reason, it feels like, sometimes," he said. "Being aware of those moments that I just can't feel connected, it's really lonely."

The "Great Divide" singer-songwriter also shared how difficult it is to open up about his body dysmorphia, which he said really showed up in his upcoming Netflix documentary Out of Body, out April 13. According to the Mayo Clinic, the mental health disorder affects how one perceives their body and appearance.

"It really came out in the documentary, and watching that back is like, even my mom was just like, I had no idea," he said. "I think she knew I had something like that, but she didn't know how much it was affecting me, and even just seeing myself, I'm like, I don't feel like that right now, but I do feel like that a lot. It's hard when the thing that you really compartmentalize and you lock away is now there."

Kahan admitted that even speaking about his body dysmorphia with Shetty was "scary" because he doesn't feel "eloquent" enough to talk about it, worried he might say "the wrong thing" and potentially impact others' mental health.

"It's just this thing that is there within me," he said. "And yeah, really, really difficult concept because it's so tied up in who you are and the feelings you've had since you were a kid that it's hard to describe the body dysmorphia problem succinctly... It's complicated, man."

Elsewhere in the podcast, Kahan explained why he felt like he "let everybody down" when he didn't win Best New Artist at the 2024 Grammy Awards and why he felt "isolated" at the show.