Chris Hughes has revealed his battle with “overpowering” anxiety.
The Love Island star launched the Don’t Bottle It Up campaign, a collaboration between Topman and charity CALM, on World Mental Health Day – and spoke candidly about his struggles with anxiety.
Speaking to The Sun Online, Chris said, “My anxiety got to a stage where I was scared to come home from work.”
“I was in a 9-5 job but I didn’t wanna leave work as I got into a routine where my anxiety would kick in at about 5.30 when I stepped in the house, and all I wanted to do was stay in work at 5pm.”
“That was really hard to do, as I got into this horrible cycle. I used to really struggle when I didn’t have a lot on my mind, everything used to overpower my mind that’s why I wanted to stay at work, I needed to be occupied.
“I used to wake up some nights in the middle of the night and not be able to sleep so I would just go for a drive because I needed to do something.”
The 24-year-old broke down in tears in front of a live audience as he recalled his darkest moments.
“You get used to talking about it in front of individuals but in front of a group of people you don’t know, it brings back memories of when it was really tough,” he said.
“And then I mentioned my mum who helped me through loads of back then, it was tough yeah.”
The star also revealed how his girlfriend and Love Island co-star Olivia Attwood supports him, “[Olivia] understands it as well. About a week ago I was just laying in bed, I know how to cope with it now a lot better than I did, and my breathing went a bit funny and I did get a little anxiety and she’s there to support me.”
“It’s always good to surround yourself with people and, if you can’t, just try to talk to people because it does put your mind in a better place.
“Dealing with stuff on your own… you can’t just overcome certain things on your own. Having people around you does make you feel a lot more relaxed and a lot better. It can calm you down and make terrible situations a bit better,” he added.
