The musician says his mental health has 'taken a beating' due to his music career.
Lewis Capaldi is seriously considering stepping away from music. During an interview with Rebecca Judd on Apple Music, the 26-year-old Scottish musician -- who has been very open about his battles with anxiety and Tourette syndrome -- admitted that his career has taken a toll on his mental health.
"I think on this album in particular I talk a bit more about my mental health, which has taken a beating over the last little while," Capaldi said of his sophomore album, Broken By Desire To Be Heavenly Sent. "My mental health issues are a direct symptom of my job."
The "Someone You Loved" singer noted that touring is tough for him. "I was in a bad way where I was just having panic attacks every single day onstage and I was just shy," he shared. "I still haven’t quite got there, but it’s interesting that this thing that you love to do and you’ve always wanted to do becomes something that causes you such distress, but such is the modern world."
Capaldi confessed that if he ends up "feeling horrible" after making another album, he may have to step away from music altogether.
"Right now I’m at a point where I can balance my mental health and how I feel in general…the trade-off is worth it,” he said. "I’ll take a few panic attacks and my Tourettes and stuff for what’s happening, but if it gets to the point where things get worse mentally and I stop kind of looking after myself in that regard, I think that would be a point where I’d be like, 'I’m just not going to do this anymore.'"
The singer-songwriter added, "At that point, if it felt like it was becoming something that I was not into or was causing me stress or I hated, then that’s when I would probably pack it in."
This isn't the first time Capaldi has talked about quitting music. Last year, he revealed to fans that he has Tourette syndrome, a condition of the nervous system that causes a person to make sudden twitches, movements, or sounds repeatedly, and also spoke about his uncertain future in the industry.
"I do the shoulder twitch quite a lot. And you see underneath every TikTok and stuff, people are like, 'Why is he twitching?', which is fine. Curiosity is fine. I get it," he shared during an Instagram Live session in September. "The worst thing about it is when I'm excited I get it, when I'm stressed I get it, when I'm happy I get it. It happens all the time. Some days it's more painful than others and some days it's less painful. It looks a lot worse than it is. Sometimes it's quite uncomfortable ... but it comes and goes."
At the time, Capaldi was about to release his song, "Forget Me," and told The Sun that he would "retire from public life" if the track was a flop. The single ended up being a success and shot up to No. 1 on the Billboard's U.K. chart in its first week.
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