Pink opens up about therapy, miscarriage at 17: 'You feel like your body is broken'

Pink has never shied away from tough subjects in her music, getting candid about marriage, addiction and politics.

But the pop star (real name: Alecia Moore) is perhaps at her most vulnerable on new album "Hurts 2B Human," released Friday, in which she speaks openly about her struggles with anxiety and body insecurity on laid-back guitar ballad "Happy." It begins with the lyrics "Since I was 17, I've always hated my body / and it feels like my body's hated me."

"The reason I said (that) is because I've always had this very tomboy, very strong gymnast body, but actually at 17 I had a miscarriage," Pink tells USA TODAY. "And I was going to have that child. But when that happens to a woman or a young girl, you feel like your body hates you and like your body is broken, and it's not doing what it's supposed to do. I've had several miscarriages since, so I think it's important to talk about what you're ashamed of, who you really are and the painful (expletive). I've always written that way."

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Despite the heartbreak of her first miscarriage, it wasn't until five years later, at age 22, when Pink first went to therapy, shortly after the release of breakthrough second album "Missundaztood" in 2001. She credits her best friend and former assistant, Laura Wilson, for urging her to go, and says she has been with the same therapist ever since.

"I believe in self-confrontation and just getting things out," Pink says. "What I love about therapy is that they'll tell you what your blind spots are. Although that's uncomfortable and painful, it gives you something to work with. I think the reason I can go to such uncomfortable places and be so honest is because I have a really healthy sense of humor. I'm extremely self-deprecating, and when (expletive) goes bad – which in any life is inevitable – you've just got to find the funny. It's because I can laugh that I can cry so hard."

Pink, 39, also sings about her relationship with husband Carey Hart on "Happy": how she's "been with somebody who loves me" since she was 22, but still struggles "to believe it's true. My head always messes up my heart, no matter what I do."

They became a couple in 2001 and married in 2006 before a yearlong separation in 2008. They now have two young children and continue to attend marriage counseling.

"He's the biggest part of my village," Pink says. "Hurts 2B Human" is "not as angsty and marital as previous records. There's certainly not a place for 'So What' right now."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Pink opens up about therapy, miscarriage at 17: 'You feel like your body is broken'