Shawn Mendes recently addressed fears of drug addiction in a candid interview.

In a new interview with The New York Timesthe Canadian pop star recalled hitting rock bottom during his 2022 Wonder World tour.

“The shows I could go through and find beauty in them… But when I got off the stage, I just didn’t recognize myself. I was a shell – like talking to a wall,” said the 26-year-old.

Shawn canceled his tour and made an emotional statement to fans in 2022, explaining: “I started this tour excited to finally be back performing live after a long hiatus due to the pandemic, but the reality is that I was completely unprepared for how the tough tournaments would be after this departure period.”

The singer said he drank and took drugs before and after his shows, and at this point he realized he wouldn’t make the same mistakes other stars had made before him.

“I told myself that I’m not going to rewrite the same story that’s been written a thousand times by musicians and artists, where they can’t cope and they start doing more drugs, more alcohol, until it’s too much . I don’t do that. They just go hard to the left,” explained the musician.

Reflecting on how he dealt with addictions, Shawn said TMZ at the time, “I’m taking a lot of time just doing therapy, man.”

“Spending time with family that I haven’t been able to do… is just spending time doing things that I haven’t really done in the last few years and just having dinner with friends and stuff” , he added.

Meanwhile, Shawn returns to the charts this year with a new album, due out next month.