Former Liverpool footballer, Jason McAteer, opened up about his battle with depression on Friday night.
In an interview on the Late Late Show, Jason revealed that he suffered from suicidal thoughts after he retired from professional football.
"Your friends are not there and it's very, very difficult and I suffered from a bad bout of depression to be fair. I got really messed up" he told host Ryan Tubridy.
Jason also spoke about having suicidal thoughts, remembering one time in particular:
"I was driving through the Mersey Tunnel to pick my son Harry up from school, and I just thought I could end all this now."
"I could just take this car and I could quit this now but Harry's image come into my head. Then I thought what about an oncoming car" he continued.
The former International star said that after the experience in the car, he drove to his mum's home where he finally broke down.
Since then, Jason has sought help for his depression, and has been doing great!
Ever sit down to your morning fry and think "God, I wish there was Viagra in my sausages?"
Well, now there can be!
Save Our Sausages (or SOS) is a new campaign by the founder of Fathers4Justice, Matt O’Connor, and – in a bid to improve the state of male mental health – Matt has helped develop a brand of totally edible pork sausages which contain natural Viagra.
According to The Metro, these culinary delights are infused with L’Arginine, Horny Goat Week, Red Chinese and Siberian Ginseng, all of which assist those with erectile dysfunction.
Matt – who worked on the sausages with The Butchery – believes the product will help get British men talking about the hugely prevalent issues of depression, suicide and low testosterone.
He says the new series of Cold Feet made him realise that humour is a great way to prompt discussions among men about difficult topics and so he thought the sausages would “help break the wall of silence”.
X Factor judge Sharon Osbourne has revealed that she was hospitalised in LA last year because she was experiencing a secret breakdown.
Speaking on The Talk, the 63-year-old television personality confessed that her family “put [her] into a facility” while she was suffering from a bout of extreme depression.
In a bid to help others in similar situations, the mother of three candidly explained how she had “a complete and utter breakdown” during which she could not physically or mentally function for a period of three days.
A photo posted by Sharon Osbourne (@sharonosbourne) on
She said: “I had a complete and utter breakdown. I woke up in Cedars-Sinai Hospital and for probably three days I knew nothing.”
“I couldn’t think, I couldn’t talk. I could do nothing. My brain just shut down on me.”
The British star – whose relationship with husband Ozzy was dragged into turmoil earlier this year by cheating revelations – explained how her depression had followed a period of prolonged stress, during which she had an extreme amount of commitments to attend to.
Singer Selena Gomez has announced that she will be taking time away from the spotlight to focus on her health.
The Good For You singer – who is currently travelling with her Revival World Tour – admitted that she has been suffering with depression and anxiety, two conditions which can be side effects of an autoimmune disease called Lupus which the star suffers from.
In a statement which was first published by PEOPLE, Selena said: “As many of you know, around a year ago I revealed that I have lupus, an illness that can affect people in different ways.”
A photo posted by Official Revival Tour (@revivaltour) on
“I've discovered that anxiety, panic attacks and depression can be side effects of lupus, which can present their own challenges.”
The 24-year-old explained that she now needs to be proactive when it comes to her health and thanked her fans – who are often called ‘Selenators’ – for their support.
She said: “I want to be proactive and focus on maintaining my health and happiness and have decided that the best way forward is to take some time off.”
“Thank you to all my fans for your support. You know how special you are to me, but I need to face this head on to ensure I am doing everything possible to be my best.”
With social media dominating so much of our time, it’s hard to imagine life before filtering photos was part of our daily routine.
And while your Insta filter of choice may have seemed relatively insignificant before now, a new study has shown that your favourite form of camouflage may actually reveal some very important clues about your mental health.
During a study of 166 Instagram accounts and almost 44,000 photos, researchers from Harvard and the University of Vermont discovered a link between particular colours, filters and subjects in people’s social media accounts and depression.
Photos which featured more blue, dark and grey colours were found to predict depression in the individual who posted them.
People with depression were more likely to have fewer faces in their pics than those without – which could be linked to socialising less frequently – and they were also less likely to use filters.
Where filters were used, the black and white edit Inkwell was most commonly associated with depressive states. Additionally, depressed individuals generally received fewer likes for their posts than those with more positive mental diagnoses.
According to the Evening Standard, those behind the study believe its results are significant enough to suggest that Instagram photos could actually be used in the future as a form of mental health screening.
So turns out all that time debating whether Hefe or Nashville is better could be of use after all.
You’d imagine it must take bags of confidence and a solid sense of self to be able to walk the most coveted runways in the world, but as more and more celebrities open up about their personal struggles with mental health, it's becoming increasingly obvious that even global superstars sometimes struggle to maintain their self-esteem. And – as a new interview with Esquire magazine has revealed – Cara Delevingne is one such star.
In October last year the popular model-turned-actress revealed at the Women in the World summit that she has battled bouts of depression since she was a teenager, and now she has expanded on her mental health struggles – which include depression, suicidal thinking and self-harm – for Esquire.
Having witnessed her mother's manic depression and various drug addictions as a child, by the time Cara was a teenager the impact of her family’s issues began to be revealed as she became increasingly depressed and suicidal.
A photo posted by Esquire Magazine (@ukesquire) on
Cara told the mag: “I think I properly started dealing with depression when I was about 16…when all the stuff with my family started to make sense and came to the surface.”
“As a kid I felt like I had to be good and I had to be strong because my mum wasn’t. So, when it got to being a teenager and all the hormones and the pressure and wanting to do well at school — for my parents, not for me — I had a mental breakdown.”
“I was suicidal…I couldn’t deal with it any more. I realised how lucky and privileged I was, but all I wanted to do was die,” she remembers.
A photo posted by Cara Delevingne (@caradelevingne) on
At 16 Cara was taken out of school for six months and prescribed medication which she said left her feeling “numb”.
Because of this experience the star now says she hates medication – although she does acknowledge that the meds she was given during her teenage years may have saved her life.
She recounts coming off the tablets at 18 and what it was like to be able to fully feel her emotions again: “I lost my virginity, I got into fights, I cried, I laughed. It was the best thing in the world to feel things again. And I get depressed still but I would rather learn to figure it out myself rather be dependant on meds, ever.”
A photo posted by Cara Delevingne (@caradelevingne) on
While still working to maintain her mental health, the 23-year-old now seems to be happier than ever before as last week she revealed to British Vogue that she is “completely in love” with her singer-songwriter girlfriend St Vincent.
We hope Cara continues to share her story and that she can remain positive into the future.
While we all know scrolling through Facebook for hours on end isn’t exactly good for you, there is nothing like a good study to highlight just how bad for your health that very pastime can actually be.
A recent study conducted by the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine has shown that social media is not only a massive waste of time and energy, it also makes you feel bad about your career, financial situation and free time.
According to Forbes, the results suggest that people who spend more than an hour a day on social media are more likely to be depressed than those who don’t.
The report states that “exposure to highly idealized representations of peers on social media elicits feelings of envy and the distorted belief that others lead happier, more successful lives” which is actually totally understandable when we spend so much time reading “#goals” under people’s perfectly filtered holiday pics.
Additionally, the lead author of the study explained that time spent online can have a negative impact on an individual’s sense of body image and can also increase the likelihood that they could develop an eating disorder.
Jaime Sidani said: “We’ve long known that exposure to traditional forms of media, such as fashion magazines, is associated with the development of disordered eating and body-image concerns.”
“Social media combines many of the visual aspects of traditional media with the opportunity for social media users to interact and propagate stereotypes that can lead to eating and body image concerns.”
If there was ever a study to promote digital detoxing, we think this is it.
Last night, Cara Delevingne revealed that she suffers from depression in a heartfelt Twitter essay.
The 23-year-old shocked her fans when she appeared in a Saint Laurent campaign after everyone thought she quit the modelling business.
However, she reached out to her confused fans by opening up in very personal tweets.
"Can we just set the record straight," she began. "I never said I was quitting modelling. I do not blame the fashion industry for anything."
"I suffer from depression and was a model during a particularly rough patch of self hatred."
"I am so lucky for the work I get to do but I used to work to try and escape and just ended up completely exhausting myself," she explained.
"I am focusing on filming and trying to learn how to not pick apart my every flaw,' she concluded. 'I am really good at that. Okay…. Rant over. Just wanted to clarify and word vomit a little…"
Yesterday, The Lad Bible shared a (now-deleted) post on Facebook, fat-shaming former Prison Break star Wentworth Miller.
Wentworth then took to social media last night to speak out about the picture, telling his followers that the picture was taken at "the lowest point in my adult life."
He wrote a very powerful message about depression and urged anyone feeling low to seek help and talk about it.
Since then, The Lad Bible has issued an apology, with a very emotional post shared on their FB page:
We posted two pictures of you last night to our Facebook page, but today we want to say we’ve got this very, very wrong. Mental health is no joke or laughing matter.
We certainly didn’t want to cause you pain by reminding you of such a low point in your life. Causing distress and upset to innocent or vulnerable people is simply not acceptable.
TheLADbible continues to cover how prevalent mental health issues are among our audience, as well as the damaging stigma that surrounds such matters.
We applaud your raw honesty and promise to now cover such matters in the responsible manner that our audience expects.
Responding head-on to our post is something we applaud as it will help others through similar challenges in their lives.
Once again, we got this very wrong, and we wanted to say sorry.
TheLADbible team"
If you have been affected by this article, please visit the Samaritans' website here or call +353 1671 0071 (ROI) / +44(0)20 8394 8300 (NI).
The LAD Bible posted a (since-deleted) meme fat-shaming Prison Break star Wentworth Miller yesterday, and since then he has addressed it by opening up about his suicidal past.
The 43-year-old explained on a Facebook post that the 2010 picture of his fuller figure was taken during "the lowest point in my adult life.
"I was looking everywhere for relief/comfort/distraction. And I turned to food,'" the actor shared.
"It could have been anything. Drugs. Alcohol. Sex. But eating became the one thing I could look forward to. Count on to get me through. There were stretches when the highlight of my week was a favourite meal and a new episode of TOP CHEF. Sometimes that was enough. Had to be. And I put on weight. Big f***ing deal.
"Now, when I see that image of me in my red t-shirt, a rare smile on my face, I am reminded of my struggle. My endurance and my perseverance in the face of all kinds of demons…Like a dandelion up through the pavement, I persist."
Wentworth has urged others to seek help with depression and speak openly about it to stop the stigma.
The star is back on track and filming a nine-episode Prison Break event series with Dominic Purcell next month in Vancouver.
If you have been affected by this article, please visit the Samaritans' website here or call +353 1671 0071 (ROI) / +44(0)20 8394 8300 (NI).
It's no secret that you are what you eat — but did you know you might feel what you eat, too?
A September 2015 study published in BMC Medicine is just one of many to find a link between food and mental health.
After looking at the eating habits of more than 15,000 people for 10 years, researchers found that people who ate a lot of fruits, veggies, nuts and fish had a lower risk of depression.
Salmon
A major nutritional deficiency of people with depression is in omega-3 fats, which help decrease inflammation and improve mood regulation. Eating salmon will set you up perfectly to combat any mood swings.
Tomatoes
Researchers found that their is a relationship between symptoms of depression and eating tomatoes and tomato-based products. The results show that participants who regularly consumed tomatoes had nearly half the odds of depression as those who didn't have a consistent tomato-fix.
Chickpeas
The biggest micronutrient deficiency in depression are the B vitamins, especially vitamin B-6, which regulates the metabolism and breakdown of all neurotransmitters. Chomping on chickpeas can change all that.
Whole Grains
Researchers from the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition linked higher fibre intake with lower depression rates, while refined grains (white bread) were associated with higher rates of depression.
Nuts and Seeds
Nuts may be the perfect superfood, since they're a triple threat for depression: high in protein and amino acids, healthy fats like omega-3 and tryptophan, the brain-soothing chemical that builds serotonin levels, which make you happier.
One in five 18-34 year-olds have cried due to anxiety this week.
That's according to a new poll that came out yesterday from the mental health charity, Mind.
The poll was conducted by Populas, and they interviewed 2,063 adults online in May of this year.
"Anxiety has now become level with depression as the most common reason for calls to Mind’s information line," the charity says.
"In 2014/15 alone there were 6,087 calls about anxiety and panic attacks, which accounted for nearly one in six of all calls."
Gender was also shown to play a major role in anxiety, with women being three times more likely than men to have cried because of anxiety in the last week.
However, women were also twice as likely to feel better after crying.
The charity has launched a free guide for people to help them recognise if what they're going through is anxiety, and the best ways to cope with and manage it.
It comes at a much-needed time, as the demands of our modern society and being constantly plugged-in and unable to escape work or social obligations, it seems that we are all more anxious than ever.
