Geordie singer Cheryl has opened up about her experience of therapy following the birth of her son - and says more people should be "open and honest" about their struggles.
Speaking to BBC Radio One's Life Hacks programme she felt she had "walked through fire" after years of keeping quiet about her mental health.
But the birth of son Bear, now two, with ex-partner Liam Payne , led her to seek help.
"I struggled for so long in silence," she said.
"I wouldn't even open up to friends and family. I was very closed.
"I actually had therapy for a year. I struggled for so many years with anxiety and in my own head. I didn't want that to be happening when I was trying to focus on raising a child.
"It felt like my responsibilities shifted and my priorities changed and I needed to be settled in my own head to be able to give him the best that I could possibly give him."
The singer, a former Walker Technology College pupil, has spoken openly about anxiety and mental health difficulties since becoming a mum.
And in her Radio One interview, she spoke about putting on a "facade" in the past to hide how she was truly feeling.
"I would walk out to a wall of paparazzi and put on a smile but inside I was dying," she said.
"I think what happens then is everyone is looking around like, 'why does everyone seem so good and having a good time in a happy place and I feel rubbish?' And that's not helpful.
"So if people would just be a bit more open and honest with how they're feeling, I think we could all help each other."
But it's not all doom and gloom in Cheryl's life - and she says the birth of her son has made things much better.
Speaking to Radio Two's Dermot O'Leary, she has said being a pop star is "more fun since I became a mother".
"I had a break, which I needed and that was important for my headspace more than anything, and it's fun that I get to come into work and do the things I love for a career," she told him.
But, now that she is a mum, it means: "I also get to go home to the most precious part of my life."
