When vocal issues threatened to ruin his Glastonbury performance over the weekend, Lewis Capaldi gave fans a heads-up that he might need to take a break from the spotlight.
His biggest hit, Someone You Love, was sang back to him by the audience, who cheered him on and mostly ignored him throughout the performance.
The singer's summer schedule, which includes appearances at the Reading and Leeds Festivals as well as two dates in Edinburgh, is left with a question mark.
Capaldi's health issues began during the pandemic, when he returned to his hometown for the Covid lockdown, anticipating beginning work on his follow-up album.
His first book, Divinely Uninspired to a Hellish Extent, sold more copies in the UK in 2019 than any other and continued to do so in 2020.
It indicated that there were high hopes for the second album. His physical and mental health would suffer as a result of the pressure he was experiencing.
According to the Scottish singer-songwriter, creating his debut album was as close to a dream come true as you could possibly imagine.
But after the success of the first album, people start asking, "Can he do it again?
Lewis Capaldi: How I Feel Now charts his rise from Whitburn, West Lothian, where he was raised, to chart success, a sold-out arena tour, and celebrity status.
Because of his unrestrained humor and willingness to make fun of himself, the self-described "Scottish Beyoncé" and "America's sweetheart" has amassed a sizable online following.
He tells the program producers that a worldwide pandemic ranks only among his top three strange experiences from the previous three years.
The film also explores how his quick rise to fame affected his mental health, leaving him to deal with panic attacks, twitching in his shoulder, and Tourette Syndrome.
It also addresses his "imposter syndrome," which is something that not even an encouraging email from Elton John telling him that he composes "beautiful songs that resonate with millions" can cure.
It's nice, but I obviously still feel like an imposter, Capaldi says after reading the email out loud. It won't go away, in my opinion, ever. ".
As he continues to write for his second album, seemingly ineffectively, throughout the documentary, his shoulder twitch seems to get worse.
Lacking self-assurance, he collaborates with other songwriters, first via Zoom in his parents' garden shed and then by traveling to London and Los Angeles.
He does, however, set a high standard for himself, comparing everything to Someone You Love, his breakthrough song that peaked at number one on both coasts of the Atlantic.
The more successful he has become, the less confident he is in his songwriting skills, he admits.
A shoulder twitch indicates his anxiety.
I have a twitch, and when I sit down to play the piano, it gets worse. He tells the documentary makers that it was physically painful.
"And when I go to do it, I feel like my back is killing me and I get really out of breath. What a ., actually. frightful. ".
Also openly discussed by Capaldi are his panic attacks, which cause him to feel as though he is "going insane.".
He declares, "I'm totally cut off from reality.". I have trouble breathing; I don't feel my breath entering. I start to feel woozy, I think something is going on in my head, and I start to perspire.
I start convulsing as my entire body begins to behave as my shoulder does. I feel as though I will either be stuck in that position forever or I will pass away. " .
His mother Carol will call him for up to seven hours at a time in an effort to calm him down.
Capaldi believes that those physical symptoms are a completely understandable response to having his "world turned upside down.".
"To me, this is like a totally natural reaction. You will experience something similar if you are put in this situation, especially if you have anxiety issues in the first place, which I assume I did.
"I never experienced the pressure that would have driven me over the edge, but we are there now, so we just need to deal with it. ".
The loss of two close relatives as a child, including the aunt whose suicide served as the inspiration for Before You Go, has been linked to some of his issues, according to a therapist.
He becomes more worried about his own health and mortality as a result.
He's not just the comedian that we all think he is, says Carol, adding that everyone is complicated. ".
His father, Mark, continues, "And that's where the conflict may also be.". Because the happy chappy guy is enveloped in darkness, which shows up as all the tics, anxiety, and other things around him. ".
Writing and recording for the second album were eventually put on hold for the sake of his mental health, despite his initial resistance to the efforts of his family and friends to get treatment for his crippling twitch.
At that time, he was identified as having the condition known as Tourette Syndrome, which makes sufferers make tics, or uncontrollable sounds or movements.
The self-described hypochondriac was reassured that he was not going to die by the diagnosis, which made "complete sense" to the singer.
He is trying to manage his anxiety with medication, exercise, and (relatively) healthy eating, and has been told that he will experience a significant improvement if he can do so.
You can watch Lewis Capaldi: How I'm Feeling Right Now on Netflix. For the issues mentioned in this story, you can find information and support at. The BBC Action Line.
