Harry Styles Reflects on Starting Therapy After One Direction Hiatus

It’s not the same as it was for Harry Styles.

The “As It Was” singer opened up on his mental health in a new extended digital version of his profile with Better Homes & Garden, explaining that he was reluctant to start therapy because he feared being a music industry cliché.

“I thought it meant that you were broken,” he told the publication. “I wanted to be the one who could say I didn’t need it.”

The 28-year-old began therapy five years ago and started to “open up rooms within himself,” he said. Explaining how he would “emotionally coast” instead of fully understanding his emotions prior to seeking therapy, Harry continued, “I think that accepting living, being happy, hurting in the extremes, that is the most alive you can be.”

He added, “Losing it crying, losing it laughing—there’s no way, I don’t think, to feel more alive than that.”

In his interview, Harry also shared that some of his trauma comes from his time being in One Direction.According to the former boybander, he previously sought to please people and felt he had to keep up a friendly persona to be likable. He said it wasn’t until he signed a contract for his 2017 self-titled solo album that he “felt free.”