Justin Bieber is struggling with emotions: 'I was drowning'

Justin Bieber is in his introspective era. If you've been keeping up with Justin Bieber's Instagram lately, you've probably noticed the "Baby" singer has been deep in his feelings. The 31-year-old dropped a lengthy, all-caps message on Sunday, March 16, admitting that he's been struggling with emotions he once tried to suppress, specifically hate.

"I was always told when I was a kid not to hate," Justin Bieber wrote. "But it made me feel like I wasn't allowed to have it and so I didn't tell anyone I've had it."

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The pop star went on to explain that pushing down those feelings made him feel like he was "drowning" and "unsafe to acknowledge it." His takeaway? The only way to let hate go is to recognize that it exists in the first place. "How couldn't we feel hate from all of the hurt we have experienced?" he added, leaving fans with more questions than answers.

He's been opening up about self-doubt too

This isn't the first time Bieber has shared his internal battles. Just days before, on March 13, he posted another candid message about feeling unworthy.

"People told me my whole life 'wow Justin u deserve that' and I personally have always felt unworthy," he admitted. "Like I was a fraud. Like when people told me I deserve something, it made me feel sneaky like, Damn if only they knew my thoughts."

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He also confessed that he feels "unequipped and unqualified most days," a rare glimpse into the self-doubt that lingers despite his success.

Is Justin sending a message to his fans?

On March 8, Bieber shared yet another cryptic post about having "nothing to prove." Some fans think he was addressing concerns about his health, especially since rumors about his well-being have been swirling since February.

"We have nothing to prove today, just the gift of life today to accept and [receive]. Nothing is owed to us and we [don't] owe anyone anything," he wrote, soundtracking his thoughts with Stevie Wonder's "Sir Duke."

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If he was responding to the speculation, he's not the only one shutting it down. A member of Justin and Hailey Bieber's team previously told TMZ on February 23 that any rumors about his health or drug use are "exhausting and pitiful." They doubled down, calling out the "negative, salacious, harmful narratives" that some people refuse to let go of.

Where does Bieber go from here?

Justin has been keeping a low profile and enjoying family life with Hailey and their baby boy, Jack Blues, who was born in August. Whether his latest posts are a sign of something deeper or just an artist processing his emotions in real-time, he's not holding back.