5 UK Celebs Who Are Open About Mental Illness: UK Mental Health Awareness Week

May 18-24 is UK Mental Health Awareness week. And whether you live in the US, the UK, China or anywhere else in the world, you should join!

How shall we celebrate this week of spreading awareness of mental illness and stopping stigmas? Let’s take a look at five amazing English celebrities who are not ashamed of their mental disorders.

Elton John

The legend has now been sober for 29 years, and he was remarkably open about how devastating his addiction was in an interview with CBS in 2019.

“It nearly destroyed my soul,” he said. “My soul was black, like a charred piece of steak, until I said, ‘I need help.’ And suddenly, a little pilot light in my soul came along going, ‘Yes, I’m still here. I’m still here. I’m still here. I can still be rescued.'”

Adele

Adele, who just turned 30 and surprised the world with a photo of a brand new look once said, “I have anxiety attacks [and] constant panicking on stage. My heart feels like it’s going to explode because I never feel like I’m going to deliver, ever.”

Russell Brand

In a 2017 interview with The Guardian, Miranda Sawyer writes of her interview with Brand:

“His personal quest means he’s gone through umpteen therapists, regaling each with his admittedly eye-popping life story. It got to the point where it would almost be a performance. He would rattle through being an only child, his mum getting cancer three times, being s*xually abused by a tutor, his relationship with his macho stepdad, his s*xually profligate dad who took him to Thailand and ordered three prostitutes (two for him, one for 16-year-old Russell), his problems with crack, heroin, with cutting himself, with sex, with food. The therapist he liked most listened to it all and said, ‘Yes, but Russell, what is it? What. Is. It?’”

ZAYN

The former “One Direction” star has opened up to his fans about stage fright. “I’ve been working over the last three months to overcome my extreme anxiety around major live solo performances. I don’t have it in me to feel secure in anything I do. I always strive towards something better. It’s why I sometimes come across the wrong way – a bit distant. I’m stressed out trying to control how I’m perceived.”

Will Young

According to Glamour, Young was diagnosed in 2012 with mental illnesses including PTSD, depersonalization and derealization. The singer and actor told The Times, ”My brain had shut down due to overwhelming levels of anxiety. I couldn’t even recognize my own face in a mirror. It was terrifying. It’s basically an extreme fight-or-flight response.”

The 41-year-old Young, who is gay, said childhood bullies worsened his anxieties. ”All those things, added to the fact that I am an insecure creative performer, made me a therapist’s smorgasbord.”