Popular singer Halsey has opened up about her experiences with mental illness in a bid to raise awareness of bipolar disorder.

In an interview published in Teen Vogue magazine in recent days, the 22-year-old told Blondie frontwoman Debbie Harry that she was first diagnosed with the condition, which causes erratic shifts in mood and behaviour, when she was only 16.

The young American pop star told Harry that the diagnosis came at a turbulent time in her life – alongside her rise to fame.

“I got diagnosed with bipolar disorder when I was 16,” she said.

“I signed my deal, and then I toured for 18 months straight trying to build a fan base.

“When you’re a person with a platform, there’s this necessity to constantly be ‘sound of mind’ and well behaved and calm and politically correct,” she said.

In a separate interview with Billboard, the singer also spoke of the soothing and emotional power of music in alleviating her symptoms.

“I could be having the worst day of my life; hate my body, think I’m fat, think I suck, and as soon as I hear the first few notes of my intro, that all goes away,” she said.

Bipolar disorder, which is sometimes known as manic depression, is a mental illness categorised by shifts in mood – which can often fluctuate between periods of deep depression and elevated hysteria.

It is estimated that around 51 million people worldwide are affected by the condition.