{"id":240370,"date":"2023-11-04T07:36:48","date_gmt":"2023-11-04T07:36:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lovemainstream.com\/?p=240370"},"modified":"2023-11-04T07:36:48","modified_gmt":"2023-11-04T07:36:48","slug":"robbie-williams-explains-mental-health-diagnosis-from-adhd-to-body-dysmorphia-and-ptsd","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lovemainstream.com\/tv-and-movies\/robbie-williams-explains-mental-health-diagnosis-from-adhd-to-body-dysmorphia-and-ptsd\/","title":{"rendered":"Robbie Williams explains mental health diagnosis – from ADHD to body dysmorphia and PTSD"},"content":{"rendered":"

Robbie Williams has revealed the mental health battles that have plagued him throughout his career. The former Take That singer, 49, was first diagnosed with depression in his early 20s and has battled poor mental health ever since.<\/p>\n

Now approaching 50, Robbie has also been diagnosed with dyspraxia, dyslexia, ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder), neurodiversity, body dysmorphia, hypervigilance, HSP (highly sensitive person), and PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder). Those conditions, coupled with his intense drug and alcohol addictions, almost killed him as dark thoughts took over and he became obsessed about criticism of his chart-topping songs.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cI did have a sense of what I was doing to myself and I didn\u2019t care,\u201d he says, looking back at old footage of himself and commenting on his vacant expression. \u201cThere is a sense of, \u2018It would be best if I passed away.\u2019 I didn\u2019t care and it would be alright. For me to change I\u2019ve got to be dying.\u201d<\/p>\n

Robbie has talked about his mental health before saying, 'I\u2019ve got a disease that wants to kill me and it\u2019s in my head.'<\/p>\n

When Robbie met his now wife Ayda Fields in 2006, he was in the grips of an intense drink and drugs relapse.<\/p>\n

Robbie\u2019s management staged an intervention, but it meant the end of his relationship with Ayda, who had started to think of Robbie as her \u201csoulmate\u201d.<\/p>\n

Talking on new Netflix documentary Robbie Williams, Ayda says, \u201cHe is like, \u2018I can\u2019t be in a relationship, I have to get better and I can\u2019t be with you, I have to break up with you.\u2019 I understood it. Because I saw that he was unwell. But I was so crestfallen. He was my soulmate, then he was gone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Robbie spent his 33rd birthday in rehab. \u201cIt\u2019s a hospital. It\u2019s not a country club,\u201d he explains. \u201cSome people can envision rehab as being like a health retreat. It\u2019s not \u2013 you\u2019re surrounded by other people who are completely depressed and have just f**ked up their lives.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

However, it saved Robbie\u2019s life and afterwards he reconnected with Ayda. They went on holiday, their relationship flourished and Robbie married Ayda in 2010.<\/p>\n

\u201cRehab cut the circuit on the addiction,\u201d explains Robbie. \u201cIt gave me the moment to recalibrate and see if I could live.\u201d<\/p>\n

The pair jetted off around the world and Robbie decided to stop being a rock star and start working on being a normal person. \u201cMy professional career had become that big,\u201d he explains, \u201cthe only thing that I could do for self preservation was to take myself out of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Robbie decided to go and visit the places he\u2019d travelled through but never really seen. He says, \u201cThere became enough space between me and my career to fall in love.\u201d<\/p>\n

Looking back at old photos of his trips with Ayda to exotic countries including Morocco and Egypt, Robbie is overwhelmed with memories of falling in love with her. \u201cWhat a package, man \u2013 silly, doesn\u2019t take herself seriously, smart, beautiful, she makes me feel great,\u201d he says as he looks at a photograph of Ayda. \u201cThere was a cementing of a relationship between me and my future wife. But if you\u2019d have asked me what I was doing during that, I wouldn\u2019t have known that.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Today, the only drugs Robbie takes are \u201csomething like Ozempic\u201d which has helped him slim down from 13st 13lb to 12st 1lb. To show off the results he spends nearly the entire four episodes of his Netflix documentary in bed, wearing just his underpants and a tight black vest. Despite being in a healthy place, he still struggles with insomnia and ends up lying awake most nights, then sleeping in until 1pm.<\/p>\n

Robbie Williams is available on Netflix from November 8 and coincides with the 25th anniversary of Robbie\u2019s solo career.<\/b><\/p>\n<\/p>\n