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Harry Styles has revealed that going to therapy has helped him open up and feel “more alive.”
Before going to therapy, the 28-year-old musician acknowledged that he had illusions about it, stating that he ‘felt it meant you were broken.’
However, Harry said that starting therapy five years ago has allowed him to tackle challenges and his mental health head-on, rather than ignoring them.
Harry recently told Better Homes & Gardens for their June cover story that counseling has helped him ‘open up places in himself’ that he didn’t know existed.
According to the “As It Was singer,” it also fixed his earlier problem of ’emotionally coasting’ through life.
‘I believed it meant you were broken, so I wanted to be the one who could claim I didn’t need it,’ Harry explained of his previous troubles.
‘However, I believe that accepting life, being happy, and hurting to extremes is the most alive you can be. There’s no way, I don’t think, to feel more alive than sobbing and laughing,’ he added.
Lockdown allowed the former One Direction heartthrob to settle down from his frantic lifestyle, allowing him to contemplate a lot of things that had transpired during his ascent to prominence in the boyband.
He added that he and his therapist have tried to figure out why he feels compelled to be so ‘likable.’
After winning the X-factor, the musician recalled how he was encouraged to ‘give so much away in order to be liked.
While in One Direction, Harry told the outlet that he was afraid to say anything incorrect in interviews.
Sharing that their contracts contained ‘cleanliness clauses,’ which would make them null and void if he did anything allegedly unsavory frightened him.
According to the former boy bander, he used to try to please people and believed he needed to have a friendly demeanor in order to be liked. He says he didn’t feel “free” until he signed a contract for his self-titled solo album in 2017.
And, while many people think of Harry as a sex symbol, he hasn’t always been comfortable with the label.
“For a long time, it felt like my sex life was the only thing I had,” he added. “I felt so guilty about it, mortified that anyone would even know I was having sex, let alone with whom.”
As someone who has been in the public glare since he was a teenager, Harry confessed that he used to have trouble deciding who he could trust with personal information.
“There were still kiss-and-tell situations at the time. It was difficult to figure out who I could trust, “said Harry. “But I guess I reached a point where I wondered why I was humiliated. I’m a single 26-year-old male; it’s like, yes, I have sex.”
When it comes to questions about his sexuality, Harry believes that labeling oneself is “outdated.”
“I’ve been quite open about it with my friends,” he explained, “but that’s my personal experience; it’s mine.” “It doesn’t matter, and it’s about not having to label everything, not having to specify what boxes you’re checking,” says the author.
On March 31, Harry released “As It Was,” the first song from his upcoming album Harry’s House. The singer called the song a “metamorphosis” and said he is now at a moment in his career where he doesn’t have to worry about “commercial success” and can focus on making “fun” music instead.
Harry’s House is set to hit theaters on May 20.
