Shawn Mendes has come clean about his anxiety issues, revealing he undergoes therapy sessions to stay on top of his mental health issues.
The 19-year-old pop star admits he started to struggle when he closed himself off from people in his life and quickly realised he had to open up and ask for help.
Appearing on the latest edition of The Dan Wootton Interview podcast, Shawn says, "I spoke to a therapist a couple of times. Therapy is what works for you - climbing a mountain. Therapy is listening to music and running on the treadmill, therapy is going to dinner with your friends - it’s something that distracts you, that helps you heal and so it just depends on what you think therapy is.
"I made a conscious effort to be more connected to the people in my life. I found I was closing myself off from everybody, thinking that would help me battle it... then realising the only way I was going to battle it was completely opening up and letting people in."
Mendes has documented his mental health struggles in the lyrics to his new songs, including In My Blood, in which he details his problems, singing: "Help me, it’s like the walls are caving in, sometimes I feel like giving up, no medicine is strong enough, someone help me."
"What I have to do now is be very honest with myself and honest about what I’m talking about," he adds. "Make something as serious as anxiety tangible, where everybody can listen to it and either connect with it or understand it.
"All pain is temporary, and the thing is with anxiety, and why it’s such a hard thing for people who don’t have it to understand, is that it is very random and it hits you at moments you don't expect it.
"Sometimes it lasts two hours, sometimes it lasts a day and sometimes it lasts five minutes. The point of the song is that no matter how long that lasts, you can come out the other end stronger and you come out of the other end always."
He adds, "People forget how important it is to talk to your family and to talk to your friends about what’s going on in your life, because the more you tell people how you feel, the more you understand how you feel and you have more control of your emotions."
