Robbie Williams thanks fans for supporting him during struggles
“If it wasn’t for you, and it wasn’t for my wife, and it wasn’t for my kids now, I don’t think I’d be here."
Depression is one of the leading causes of suicide in the world.
The World Health Organisation reports that 5% of adults suffer from it.
Many celebrities have also spoken about their mental health challenges.
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Robbie Williams is the latest one to do so.
Speaking at Amsterdam’s Ziggo Dome recently, the singer said his battle with mental health got very severe in 2006 and led to him retiring.
“Over the years, there has been the delving into the mental illness and the struggling with just being a human. In 2006, it got so much that I retired from the industry. Obviously, I’m still here, so that didn’t fu**ing work out, but I did."
He says during that time he isolated himself from the world.
"For three years, I just sat on the couch and I ate crisps, chips, and I ate donuts, and I grew a beard and I looked like a serial killer, and I looked for UFOs, which made me look even more crazy. I became agoraphobic and I didn’t leave the house. I only left the house for doctor’s meetings."
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The 'Lost' hitmaker adds that though his career was flourishing, internally he felt underserving.
“I had no purpose and I had no life. Being on top of the world, which I was at the time, selling all of these stadiums and being in the newspapers every day.
"My head tells me I don’t deserve any of this. My head tells me that I’m sh*t and that I’m worthless,” he said.
Williams says the media made his struggles worse.
“And then, when you’re on top of the world, everybody wants to drag you down. The newspapers want to drag you down. Social media wants to drag you down. They just want to cut you down to size and make it not work anymore, and make it not happen," he said.
But despite all the struggles he was going through and the pressure from social media, the singer says what made him stay alive was his fans' support.
“The other thing, which is true, because my brain tells me that I’m worthless and I’m an imposter and I shouldn’t be here and I don’t deserve any of this, the one thing that counteracted that, and also kept me safe, was the fact that you guys are here, and you guys like me, and you guys want me to be well,” Williams said.
He also thanked his family for the support that they have given him, which has kept him alive.
“If it wasn’t for you, and it wasn’t for my wife, and it wasn’t for my kids now, I don’t think I’d be here. So, I’m eternally grateful to you for, in a very, very crazy, mad way, protecting me. Thank you very much,” he said.
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Image courtesy of Instagram.