Liam Payne opens up about the 'horrible anxiety' that made him scared to leave the house

Another member of pop sensation One Direction has opened up about struggles with mental health, describing the "horrible anxiety" he felt over public appearances.

Singer Liam Payne has spoken for the first time of his extreme fear of leaving home and says he still sometimes finds it difficult.

Payne, 25, told Esquire Middle East his agoraphobia was triggered by "knowing that you might be photographed" on any trip outside - even to the shops or petrol station.

He said: "I don't think I struggle in the sense of what you would naturally think of when I'm walking down the street with every person stopping me.

"I mean, it happens sometimes but it's mainly mentally where you struggle with it. It's the getting ready and always knowing that you might be photographed.

"I developed a bit of agoraphobia. I would never leave the house. And I do sometimes suffer with it a bit in the sense that I'll get days where I just don't want to leave my house. Even if it's just going to the shop."

In 2016, his former band-mate Zayn Malik apologised to fans after being forced to pull out of a performance because of an 'anxiety attack'.

Zayn Malik has also struggled with anxiety. Credit: AP

At the time he told his Twitter followers about being "haunted" by anxiety around live performances for "the last few months" but a year on he said he had beaten his mental demons.

In an interview with the Sunday Times' Style Magazine, he said: "I now have no problem with anxiety. It was something I was dealing with in the band."

Payne, who shares two-year-old son Bear with pop star Cheryl, said he had had to "get over it" as quickly as he could.

The For You singer added: "I'd be going in to order a coffee at Starbucks and I would sweat because I wouldn't know whether I was doing the right thing or not. I would be thinking, 'f***, I don't want to be here'.

"I even used to have a really bad problem with going to petrol stations and paying for petrol. I can feel it now - it was like this horrible anxiety where I'd be sweating buckets in the car thinking, 'I don't want to do this'.

"Unfortunately, it does happen to everybody in this industry. I think at a certain point you just have to get over it as quickly as you can."