Massive Country Star Suffered ‘Severe Panic Attacks’ After ‘Drinking F—ing 15 Beers in a Day’

Country music star Zach Bryan is opening up about his past mental health struggles before he stopped drinking alcohol.

During a recent chat with actor Matthew McConaughey, Bryan revealed that his heavy alcohol drinking led to severe panic attacks.

“When I got in the throes of drinking f—ing 15 beers in a day, and I kept going with that cycle, I started getting these really, really severe panic attacks where my whole body went numb,” he explained. “And I thought I was going to have a stroke and die.”

The singer-songwriter also shared, “I’d curl up for days at a time, and I went to a doctor. And, like I said, I still didn’t believe it. I told the doctor, ‘Man, I’m just hungover. I’m fine.’ And the doctor was like, ‘No, man. You have a really severe thing going on here.’”

After he was diagnosed with panic disorder, Bryan said his doctor suggested that he should quit drinking alcohol.

“[My doctor] said, ‘I think you have a pretty bad panic disorder. And if you quit drinking, that might help you a little bit.’ So I tried it, and I was like, ‘Oh, yeah,’” he recalled.

Bryan also said that he previously relied on drinking to combat his stage fright.

“So I used to get on stage. Here’s my routine. I used to think this was the perfect routine,” he explained. “No show could ever go bad if I did this: work out, shower, play my guitar, listen to Bon Iver, drink four beers. It eased my pain. All the stage fright I had was gone after I drank three or four beers, and I’m like, ‘I can do it.’ Then I would drink after the show, too.”

However, Bryan admitted he kept repeating the same cycle with each performance.

“I’d wake up the next day with another show, and I’d think, ‘Well, to get rid of this panic in me, to get rid of this stage fright, there’s one choice. Let’s do what we’ve always done,’” he said. “I’d drink two or three more beers. And I thought I was never going to get out of that. I thought that cycle was forever.”

After finally quitting the cycle, the country star admitted performing sober was intimidating at first and that stages are “more scary” than they were when he was drinking.

“But once I get on stage, it’s a lot more enjoyable,” he pointed out. “So much better. It feels like flying. It’s more fun. It’s the best feeling in the world.”

Bryan revealed in late 2025 that he had quit drinking, noting he was drinking to cope with “perpetual discontent” and a “consistent black hole” that he had inside.

He told McConaughey that quitting drinking has helped him become more creative, energized, and content.

“I feel great. I feel content. I feel whole,” he added. “There’s nothing I need to get me by anymore.”