Liam Payne Opens Up About His Days In One Direction And How It Left Him With 'Scars'

Liam Payne recently opened up about the lasting impact of his time in One Direction, acknowledging how it affected his mental health. Despite not fully understanding the implications of joining at 14, he's grateful for his career.

Payne emphasized addressing emotional baggage before entering such a path and hopes to help others facing similar struggles. Earlier, he shared his journey towards better mental health, revealing diagnoses after seeking treatment.

Keep on reading to learn more.

Liam Payne got candid about the lasting impact of his time in One Direction, acknowledging the toll it took on his mental health and revealing his struggles during "low moments." Speaking on Colombia's W Radio, Payne, who auditioned for The X Factor in 2010 and was placed in the famous boy band, admitted that he didn't fully understand the implications of what he was getting into since he was 14.

According to the Daily Mail, he expressed gratitude for his career but acknowledged that the journey has left emotional scars, stating, "I've been fortunate to hold the job for that long, which is great, but I do think it left scars on me." He added, "You have to unpack a lot of stuff before you start this job. I wouldn't change a thing now that I am where I am; I've made my sense of why I ended up at this place."

The 29-year-old also emphasized the importance of addressing emotional baggage before embarking on such a path and how he now wants to use his platform to prevent others from going through similar struggles.

"If I can help anybody out in my position, not so much on the fame side but the things that happened to me before and kind of stop that from happening to somebody else, that would be my life's dream," Payne added.

Payne recently shared his journey towards better mental health, revealing that he received diagnoses for "a couple of conditions" after seeking treatment in a US wellness clinic last year.

The "Night Changes" singer opened up about his challenges in a heartfelt Instagram Story, where he admitted to having tough days and struggling even though his family and friends noticed.

Accompanying the video clip, he wrote, "I've filmed this same video about 20 times at different points this year and got too scared to put it out by talking myself out of it."

He added, "I'm coming to see how fortunate I am to be in the position I'm in... and I wanna give any of you struggling the gift I was given by sharing some of the things I learned from specialists while I was away."

The "Story of My Life" hitmaker also discussed moments where he experienced "manic" episodes and his difficulty in maintaining sobriety during his lowest points. He confessed that he had recorded and deleted similar videos but now felt it was the right moment to share his story with his fans.

In the video, he said, "I know in my last video I mentioned I'd been diagnosed with a couple of conditions, and I will not go into too much detail, but one of them I have is, there's a lot of manic things in my life which you guys saw."

He continued, "But the other side of it is, and that kind of feels like when I would lose my sobriety in these moments that were super low, and I felt like that today." He further explained his struggles with sobriety during challenging times, acknowledging his tendency to isolate these two aspects.

Liam expressed his gratitude for the fantastic support system around him and recognized their efforts in looking after him. He stressed the importance of acknowledging one's feelings and not bottling them up, sharing that he had blocked his emotions for too long, negatively affecting him. 

Earlier today, the "Strip That Down" singer took to Instagram to mark a significant achievement for his former group, One Direction. Their debut single, "What Makes You Beautiful," released in 2011 after they formed on The X Factor, is nearing an impressive milestone of 1 billion streams.

In celebration of this momentous event, Payne shared an alternate album cover from the band's first album, "Up All Night." He expressed his astonishment alongside the image, captioning the post, "Wow, I just got told we're about to make a billion streams on my."

He went on to reflect on the journey, admitting that when crafting this song at the beginning of their career, they could never have imagined achieving such massive numbers. He celebrated the accomplishment with his former bandmates Harry Styles, Zayn Malik, Niall Horan, and Louis Tomlinson, as well as the "amazing fanbase" that supported them.