Bieber publicly confronts struggles

Justin Bieber said in a candid Instagram post Sunday that he isolated himself and turned to “heavy drugs” at 19 while struggling to cope with his rapid rise to fame.

The 25-year-old pop star has become increasingly open about his personal life in recent years as he has rebounded from a string of missteps — including a 2014 DUI arrest — that led to concerns about his career. Last year, he shocked fans when he took to Instagram to confirm his engagement to model Hailey Baldwin, whom he married two months later. On Sunday, Bieber referenced their marriage as “the best season of my life.”

He put their union in stark contrast to the relationships he “abused” as he grappled with the dark side of fame. “I Became resentful, disrespectful to women, and angry,” he wrote.

Bieber, who skyrocketed to fame at 13, isn’t the first child star to struggle with fame or sudden wealth — a theme to which Bieber alluded in his post.

“Have u noticed the statistics of child stars and the outcome of their life?” he asked. “There is an insane amount of pressure and responsibility put on a child who’s brain, emotions, frontal lobes (decision making) aren’t developed yet.”

Bieber’s reference to “heavy drugs” is not the first time the singer has broached the subject. “Drugs put a screen between me and what I was doing. It got pretty dark,” he told Vogue this year. “I think there were times when my security was coming in late at night to check my pulse and see if I was still breathing.”

In addition to his marriage, Bieber has cast his Christian faith as a pivotal aspect of his healing.

“Jesus loves you,” Bieber wrote near the end of his lengthy post, which he summarized as a reminder to “keep fighting” even when “the odds are against you.”