Justin Bieber seems to be in a confessional mood these days.
In the months immediately after Bieber married Hailey Baldwin, he maintained a low profile and closely guarded his privacy.
Now, the singer is ready to open up about why he felt the need to step away from the spotlight.
Last month, Bieber revealed that he’s been diagnosed with Lyme disease.
And it seems that’s not the only health crisis he’s endured in recent years.
In the latest installment of his YouTube docuseries, Seasons, Justin revealed that he struggled with substance abuse for several years and is currently "in the recovery process."
Bieber doesn’t go too deep into specifics regarding the nature of his preferred substances or the quantities in which he was ingesting them, but he does reveal that he was “popping pills” and “sipping lean” on a regular basis.
“It was just an escape for me,” says the singer.
“I was young, like everybody in the industry, or in the world, who experiment.”
Bieber goes on to say that because of his wealth and fame, his experimentation went much further than that of most curious young people.
“But my experience was in front of cameras and I had a different level of exposure," he says.
"I had a lot of money and a lot of things, so then you have all these people around me hanging on and wanting stuff from me, knowing I was living this lifestyle that they also wanted to live.”
Justin says he was caught up in the lifestyle for several years, but when it came to time to get clean, his body left him with little doubt about what he had to do.
“I decided to stop because I was, like, dying,” he says on Seasons.
“My security were coming into the room at night to check my pulse. People don’t know how serious it got. It was legit crazy-scary.”
These days, Bieber says he’s sober, happy, and looking forward to his future as a family man:
“I’ve abused my body in the past and now I’m just in the recovery process,” he explains.
“I’m committed to getting better because I know ultimately being the best me is going to help me be the best husband, the best father, the best friend I can possibly be.”
The only downside, Justin says, is that it may be a while before he’s able to get back in the studio:
“And for all the fans that want to enjoy the music that I make," he says. "I can’t do it if I’m not healthy, and I haven’t been healthy for a long time,”
We wish Justin all the best in his continued recovery.
