In July 2023, Payne filmed a YouTube video to give his fans an update on his health after a 100-day stint in rehab.

“I just needed some time for myself, because I actually became someone I didn’t really recognize anymore. And I’m sure you didn’t either,” he said.

During rehabilitation, Payne didn’t have access to a phone and he said the experience was refreshing.

“Until that moment I was in bad shape, and I was more than anything very happy when I arrived to put an end to life and work,” he said.

At the time he filmed the video, Payne said he had stopped drinking and had been sober for almost six months.

“It’s good to be in this position,” he said. “I definitely don’t need those things anymore. The party is over.”

Payne went on to say he had “a better grip on life” and was focusing on being a great father to his son Bear, now 7.

“There’s no point in being a father if you have nothing to learn,” he said. “I don’t think I really had much to say to him until now, other than to say that I cared for him very much and loved him very much, which are obviously the most important things.”

He turned to alcohol to cope with One Direction’s fame

While speaking to Men’s Health Australia in 2019, Payne opened up about the lonely aspects of fame, saying he started drinking to help process his feelings. He noted that the repetitive nature of touring was a challenge on days when he was feeling mentally unwell.

“It’s almost like putting on the Disney costume before you go on stage, and under the Disney costume I was often pissed off because there was no other way to understand what was going on. I mean, it was We had a blast, but there were certain parts where it just got a little bit toxic,” he said.

While appearing on an episode of “The Diary of a CEO” podcast in 2021, the singer also recalled the heavy drinking he did while stuck in his hotel room during tours.

“When we were in the band, the best way to keep us safe, because of the size of it, was to just lock us in our rooms. And of course, what’s in the room? Mini-bar. So at one point I thought, ‘Well, I’m going to throw a party for one person, and that seemed to go on in my life for years,'” he said.

He tried therapy to improve his relationship with alcohol

He told USA Today in 2019 that he had achieved a year of sobriety and that therapy had helped him have a healthier relationship with alcohol.

“Luckily in those moments (when I was drinking) I had the best people around me who made me realize different points in my life where I could be better,” he said. “And it’s clear that having children completely changes the mindset around everything you do.”

“I’m still quite young, or so I would like to think, so I still have a lot to learn. I’m still very much discovering myself as a person,” Payne added.

“As you get older, hangovers become something completely different. There’s that age-old saying, ‘I’ll only take one,’ but you never really know,” he continued.” Sometimes it doesn’t matter if you make a mistake or if the night goes a little too far. … As long as I can get my work done the next day at a proficient level that I’m happy with, I can just write that off as a lesson and say, ‘I won’t do that again.’ I still like to go out and enjoy myself.”

Liam Payne struggled with anxiety

Fame created a paralyzing fear for Payne, who told Esquire Middle East that at one point in his career he was nervous about venturing outside his home.

Research shows that anxiety and substance use disorders often occur in the same people, although the connection is not fully understood.

“I developed a bit of agoraphobia. I would never leave the house. And it bothers me a little bit sometimes, in the sense that I get days where I just don’t want to leave my house, even if it’s just going to the store,” he said.

“I don’t think I struggle in the sense of what you would naturally think about when I’m walking down the street with everyone stopping me,” he continued. “I mean, it happens sometimes, but it’s mainly mentally where you struggle with it. It’s preparing and always knowing that you might be photographed.”

Simple tasks such as filling his car with gas and paying at the cash register caused the singer anxiety at one point.

“I can feel it now – it was like a terrible fear where I was sitting in the car sweating and thinking, ‘I don’t want to do this,’” he said.

To manage his anxiety, Payne said he liked to go for a run early in the morning every day.

“I love it. I go into the day outside and overcome the fear of ‘what if this happens?’ or ‘what if that happens?'” he said.

Liam Payne struggled with suicidal thoughts

During a Sky News interview with Ant Middleton in 2019, Paine revealed that he had occasionally had suicidal thoughts during his career. Research shows that addiction can increase the risk of suicidal thoughts and behavior.

“Under certain circumstances, I feel lucky to still be here, which is something I’ve never really shared with anyone,” he said.

Payne spoke about his struggles with “loneliness” and “people coming to you every day.”

“Every now and then you think, ‘When is this going to end?’ That almost cost me my life a few times,” he said, adding that he had considered killing himself.

Payne said he relied on friends to support him and looked inward to figure out why he was feeling the way he was.

“When things start piling on top of each other, it can really hit you. You really need to change your mind about it. There is only one thing you have control over in that situation: it is you,” he said.

While appearing on an episode of the podcast “The Diary of a CEO” in 2021, Payne spoke about the suicidal thoughts he had while a member of One Direction.

“There are some things that I have absolutely never, ever talked about. It was really, really bad. And that was a problem,” he said.