George Ezra felt "vacant to the world’ at the height of his obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) struggles.
The 27-year-old singer has a rare form of OCD known as Pure O, which prompts intrusive or unwanted thoughts, and he admits it’s had a huge impact on his life at times.
George shared: "At its worst, it was as if before my eyes had opened, they would have already started. It would last until I went to bed and I wouldn’t have lived – I wouldn’t have been alive.
"You were kind of vacant to the world around you and you’re not really there."
George has often been frustrated by his own inability to censor his thoughts.
He told the ‘How Do You Cope? …with Elis and John’ podcast: "It feels like you go, ‘In this situation, the worst thing you could think is … ‘ and then you have that thought.
"Then you’d think, ‘George, don’t have that thought again’, and so you do. Then you think, if you’re somebody that can have that thought, does that mean you are this person? And if so, you’re f****** horrible mate."
George has suffered with the disorder all of his life, but for a long time he wasn’t able to understand his behaviour.
The ‘Budapest’ hitmaker said: "In hindsight, this is something that I’ve had my whole life.
"But as a kid, your intrusive thoughts are based in a less harmful place. They’re far more naive.
"Then you know you grow up and you start to understand the nature of taboo. It feels like you’re testing yourself."
George is an advocate of transcendental meditation, which he thinks has made a notable "difference" to how he copes with the disorder.
He explained: "You have to buy into it. I should say, quite soon after starting, it became very apparent that it was having a positive impact on my life.
"That’s the only reason I carry on doing it because I’m convinced I see a difference in myself."