Janet Jackson Opens Up About Verbal Abuse from Her Brothers & Relationship with Father Joe Jackson

Singer/actress Janet Jackson opens up about verbal abuse from brothers and relationship with father Joe Jackson.

Singer/actress Janet Jackson is making the television rounds to promote her new book, "True You: A Journey to Finding and Loving Yourself." During an exclusive interview with TODAY's Meredith Vieira, she revealed that her struggles with her body image were once so severe, "I would literally bang my head up against the wall because I didn't feel attractive. ... There was a lot of pain in my life. But I did. I felt very unattractive," Jackson said, according to The Scoop.

The singer/actress writes about the incident in her new book "True You: A Journey to Finding and Loving Yourself," saying that she's better off now than when she was in her 20s, and "Rhythm Nation" was topping the charts. "I still have issues with it. I don't bang my head up against the wall, but I still have those moments. And I think it'll probably continue but at least I know how to deal with it now. And I'm in a much better space," she told Vieira.

The issues Jackson had might stem back to how she was treated by her brothers, including Michael, who had nicknames for her like "Horse, pig, cow, slaughter-hog," she said." "It makes you laugh, it really does. It makes you laugh. I guess some people could say, 'Oh that's, you know, brothers and sisters joking, it's all affection, it's all, you know, it's in a loving way.' But not everybody can brush it off, and I was one of those," she said. Source: The Scoop

I applaud her for opening up about some of the demons in her life. It's a hard thing to do, but you feel as sense of relief and release once it's done. I think we all carry around so much baggage in our lives that we can't move forward and be ourselves unless we let it all out. I have a cousin who has been carrying around alot of baggage from her youth, so much that she has literally cut off her family. I love her and I want her to go back to being that person the family could laugh and talk with. For me, I let go of some of the baggage from my youth during counseling a few years ago and I am a better person for it. Like Patti Labelle said, release, let it go. You can see the interview on TODAY on Friday and on "Dateline" on Sunday, Feb. 13.

Labelle -- Release Yourself: