Ed Sheeran says he 'likes to sing' to daughter Lyra
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Heading straight for the top of the charts, with new releases Bad Habits and Shivers, Ed has retained his title of the richest British celebrity aged 30 and under. But fame for the star has not always been pleasurable. The 30-year-old Grammy award winner revealed in an interview that he has had “bouts of everything” from depression to anxiety, and said that his lowest point so far for his mental health, was one of the highest points in his career.
Speaking about his history of mental health, Ed told ET: “It was down to bad diet, drinking and then not seeing sunlight at all… and I wasn’t exercising.
“Exercise, I think, is a really f**king important thing to keep people happy.
“I was touring and I would stay up and drink all night and then… the buses would park underneath the arenas and I’d sleep on the bus all day and then wake up and then come out, do the show, drink, get back on the bus. I didn’t see sunlight for, like, maybe like four months.
“It’s all fun and games at the start, it’s all rock ‘n’ roll and it’s fun, and then it starts getting just sad,” Sheeran continued. “So I think that’s probably the lowest that I’ve been and I kind of ballooned in weight and I just wasn’t healthy.”
This unhealthy routine wore Ed down so much that he was left not enjoying the career he had worked so hard for.
He continued to say that he used to ask himself: “What was the point? Why am I around? What is the point?’”
What made matters worse for the Shape Of You singer was that he also began to develop panic attacks in public places, including on the “tube, planes, supermarkets, anywhere where there’s lots of people”.
Ed continued to say: “It’s a weird paranoia in me that’s assuming that everyone’s gonna be horrible, when usually people are nice.”
The source of his unhealthy lifestyle and subsequent mental health problems are put down to what he refers to as his “very, very addictive personality”.
“I’m reading Elton John’s book at the moment and there are so many things that he did that I do. He would be like, ‘I would just go on an ice cream binge and eat four f**king desserts until I thew up,’ and I was like, ‘I’ve done that before,’” Ed explained.
“He ends up getting really f**king sad and depressed and all of these things can add to that. I think with addiction it’s very hard to moderate, but moderation is the key, I think.
“I think things like sugar, sweet stuff, junk food, cocaine, alcohol, is all things that, it feels good the more you do, but it’s the worst thing for you, I think.
“I’m covered in tattoos and I kind of don’t do things by halves. So if I’m gonna drink, I kinda see no point in having a glass of wine, I’d rather have two bottles of wine. I think having a glass of wine is having something in moderation and probably isn’t going to affect your day the next day. But two bottles of wine probably might make you quite sad the next.”
In a bid to help his mental and physical health, Ed stopped using his phone and began to take regular breaks from the industry after releasing and touring a new album. But it was after the Covid pandemic that Ed really started to ditch the takeaways and focus on his health.
The hitmaker said: “It’s the first time I’ve been really healthy. I’ve kind of stopped all the bad habit stuff in my life and started exercising every day. I was eating like a takeaway every single day, and now I don’t eat take away every single day and it’s been good.”
Now a father of one, the star revealed that his wife Cherry Seaborn, also helped him to start a healthier regime. He added: “She exercises a lot, so I started going on runs with her. She eats quite healthily so I started eating quite healthily. She doesn’t drink that much so I wasn’t drinking. I think that all changed things.”
The Mayo Clinic explains that feeling anxious is part of normal life, but those who experience excessive and persistent worry and fear are likely to have an anxiety disorder. These disorders often involve panic attacks, which is what Ed suffered from.
Examples of anxiety disorders include generalised anxiety disorder, social anxiety disorder (social phobia), specific phobias and separation anxiety disorder.
If you are worried about whether you or someone you know is suffering from anxiety, common signs and symptoms include:
- Feeling nervous, restless or tense
- Having a sense of impending danger, panic or doom
- Having an increased heart rate
- Breathing rapidly (hyperventilation)
- Sweating
- Trembling
- Feeling weak or tired
- Trouble concentrating or thinking about anything other than the present worry
- Having trouble sleeping
- Experiencing gastrointestinal (GI) problems
- Having difficulty controlling worry
- Having the urge to avoid things that trigger anxiety.
Luckily, there are multiple treatments for anxiety. This mainly involves cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), which focuses on teaching you specific skills to improve your symptoms and gradually return to the activities you’ve avoided, because of anxiety.
Mental health support is available 24 hours a day with Samaritans on 116 123, or individuals can text SHOUT to 85258.
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