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When it comes to mental health, research indicates men are less likely to seek medical help or share their problems with friends or family.
So it’s worth applauding Liam Payne, who has spoken publicly for the first time about his personal struggle with agoraphobia, a not-so-often discussed anxiety disorder.
The former One Direction member told Esquire Middle East about his personal experience with agoraphobia. It’s a condition broadly summarised as one that causes a person to feel anxious about leaving their home, or being in places or situations that might be difficult to escape from, or that make them feel vulnerable. A panic attack can be triggered in a person with agoraphobia when they are forced to leave their house, be in an uncomfortable situation, or even just think about it.
“I’ll get days where I just don’t want to leave my house,” Payne, 25, said of his experience with agoraphobia.
“Even if it’s just going to the shop. I’d be going to order a coffee at Starbucks and I would sweat because I wouldn’t know whether I was doing the right thing or not. I would be thinking: ‘f***, I don’t want to be here,'” he explained.
“I even used to have a really bad problem with going to petrol stations and paying for petrol. I can feel it now—it was like this horrible anxiety where I’d be sweating buckets in the car thinking ‘I don’t want to do this.'”
In 2017 Payne became a father, welcoming son Bear with his now ex-partner Cheryl Cole. Reflecting on fatherhood, Payne said new parents shouldn’t feel guilt or shame if they feel like they’re still figuring out how to be a mum or dad.
“People make it out like a lightbulb comes on and suddenly you’re a dad and it’s like… no,” he said.
“[Being a father] is something you have to learn and I’m not afraid to say it takes more than a f***ing minute to get your head around the idea of what it is.
“The not understanding is the most difficult bit…especially when you have a toddler who doesn’t understand how to communicate and you can’t understand what they want.”
It’s important for men to speak out about this stuff. Bravo, Liam.
