Well, at least she IS stronger than yesterday…

It’s been a decade since Britney Spears suffered a very public meltdown — and the pop superstar has finally opened up about her unfortunate fall from grace.

ICYMI, back in 2007, the troubled star spiraled out of control — shaving her head days before attacking a photographer’s car. Her turmoil resulted in hospitalization and her father Jamie Spears becoming her conservator.

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Ten years later, the 35-year-old is addressing those difficult years. Ahead of a performance in Tel Aviv, she spoke with Israeli newspaper Yediot Ahronot about how she copes with fame.

“I think I had fun when I was younger. I was a pretty normal girl, a tomboy. But my twenties were awful,” she revealed. “From an early age I always felt that everyone was testing me. If [something] was not in place, it would have been enough to get me to this point of anxiety.”

In fact, those darker times made her rethink how she approached her career. “I think I had to give myself more breaks through my career and take responsibility for my mental health,” she said.

“My life was controlled by too many people and that doesn’t really let you be yourself,” she explained. “In that situation, when you’re not in control, you become less excited, and there’s less passion when it comes to music. I wrote back then that I was lost and didn’t know what to do with myself.”

She added, “I was trying to please everyone around me because that’s who I am deep inside. There are moments where I look back and think, ‘What the hell was I thinking?’”

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One such moment was her infamous snake dance at the 2001 MTV Video Music Awards. She said the experience was “scary” and “stupid” and she wouldn’t do it again.

But today, “I’m at a better place in my life. My kids shaped my personality and filled me. They made me not worry about what was happening to me,” she shared.

This story originally appeared on Now to Love.