Irish influencer Sean Phipps has won praise for opening up about his mental health struggles in a candid post.
The social media star, who has over 114k followers on Instagram, revealed his mental health “deteriorated” last year after he broke his ankle.
In a post shared to Instagram on Monday night, the 28-year-old wrote: “A year ago today, the worst thing happened to me.”
“I know some people will feel like it’s only a broken ankle to get over it. However, I’m blessed to say I haven’t broken anything before, but f**k me I didn’t know what I was in for because it was so unexpected and nobody prepared me for what was next.”
“To be always on the go 24/7 doing something and then not being able to do anything for weeks on end and nobody having and answer for me was f**king with my head big time,” Sean admitted.
“Then the whole ankle operation didn’t go as planned, from infections, to my leg being completely stiff with no movement in it at all, it just mentally f**ks you up because you’re just stuck in your room looking at four walls for weeks on end thinking when does it get better and your thoughts deteriorate after a while and then I ended up going to one of the darkest places I’ve ever went to and it was honestly the most heartbreaking and scariest thing I’ve had to come face to face with.”
“It got to the stage that I was like what is the point in life anymore. But fast forward 365 days later and no stupid mistakes were made, I got out of my rut and I’m finally starting to feel like the happy go lucky Sean I used to be.”
The content creator continued: “When you start to get better, you’re also going to get really sad. You’re fully going to wake up to the time that you lost, the harm that was done, the opportunities that you missed. You’re going to grieve, which is very important to make sure you allow yourself to do it.”
“You’ll feel absolutely lost and broken and then one day you’re going to wake up and you’re going to ask yourself, ‘how did I survive that?’ and your answer will be really simple, is that YOU DIDN’T SUIT even when you really wanted to. Your smile won’t be forced, your spark will come back and you’ll come back out on top!!!”
“It gets easier… eventually! Make sure to go to your safety net, which makes you feel nothing but yourself without any judgement in the world. THe ones you know who will stick by you and manage to give you your slight spark back until you’re ready to become a better version of yourself.”
Sean concluded the post by writing: “Check in on your strong friends because they are the ones who have their walls up and make it look like everything is okay until it’s too late. Love you guys.”
A host of well-known Irish faces took to the comment section to praise Sean on his honesty.
Influencer Charleen Murphy, who is a close friend of Sean’s, wrote: “My baby, putting it out there is such a big step and you’ll inspire and help more people than you ever know👏 I admire your strength so much💕”
Model Holly Carpenter commented: “So proud of you for being open & honest about that painful time in your life. So many people will relate and will see that things get better ❤️🩹❤️ being patient with yourself & leaning on the right people when needed is so important. So glad to hear you’re feeling like you again!!😌🫶🏼🥰❤️✨ xxx”
Ireland AM presenter Katja Mia added: “You’re inspiring for being so vulnerable 🫶🏾❤️ the ‘strong friends’ part…so true! Lots of love xxx”
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