Zac Efron says he struggles badly with agoraphobia

Zac Efron has opened up about how he has recently been struggling with an anxiety disorder following his time on Baywatch.

During a recent interview with Men’s Health, the actor revealed he has been battling agoraphobia.

The Mayo Clinic defines the anxiety disorder as “a disorder in which you fear and avoid places or situations that might cause you to panic and make you feel trapped, helpless or embarrassed.

“You fear an actual or anticipated situation, such as using public transportation, being in open or enclosed spaces, standing in line, or being in a crowd.”

Speaking of the disorder, Efron said to Men's Health: “I just don’t go out. People in large groups... it triggers my agoraphobia.”

Paramount Pictures

He talked deeply about the problems he faced while attempting to attain his physique for the 2017 Baywatch remake, saying: "There's just too little water in the skin. Like, it's fake; it looks CGI'd. And that required Lasix, powerful diuretics, to achieve. So I don't need to do that. I much prefer to have an extra, you know, 2 to 3 percent body fat."

His experience of training and dieting hard resulted in him facing some mental health struggles.

"Something about that experience burned me out. I had a really hard time recentering. Ultimately, they chalked it up to taking way too many diuretics for way too long, and it messed something up," he explained.

Alongside these struggles, fans across the globe have been discussing a photo of the 34-year-old in recent months, leading to plastic surgery speculation, but Efron was quick to squash those claims in his interview.

The actor revealed in his interview that in 2013, he shattered his jaw after slipping in his home while running in socks, and was only made aware of the speculation because his mother told him.

Reacting to the public’s rumours surrounding 'jaw-gate', he said: “If I valued what other people thought of me to the extent that they may think I do, I definitely wouldn't be able to do this work."

PA Images/Alamy Stock Photo

Later this year, the High School Musical star will return to our screens in The Greatest Beer Run Ever, and will star alongside the likes of Russell Crowe and Bill Murray in a film based on the book of the same name by Joanna Molloy and John 'Chickie' Donohue.

The story follows a man in 1967 who attempts to deliver beer from New York to his friends who are fighting in the Vietnam War. 

The American biographical film will be released by Apple TV+ on 30 September in the UK.

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