HARD TIMES
Love Island’s Jessie Wynter opens up about depression and ADHD saying ‘I was in so much pain and confusion’
LOVE Island's Jessie Wynter has opened up about her ADHD - saying she didn't react well when she was first diagnosed.
The reality star, 26, admitted she was "scared of everything" and "went down the path of depression" during her youth.
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Jessie - who has since found love with farmer Will Young on the ITV2 dating show - said she was in "so much pain and confusion" before her diagnosis.
Speaking on Girls Know Nothing podcast, host Sharon Gaffka asked Jessie if her anxiety is something she always experienced.
Jessie revealed: "So potentially yes, I've always had it but I wasn’t actually aware that it was anxiety, I just thought it was the way that I am and they way I see life.
"I have ADHD, so anxiety is actually a massive part of that and I was never educated on anything about this.
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"So when I realised I was actually struggling with ADHD and the cause behind it, that’s when I was able to manage and work on it.
"I have done a lot of self-help and development because I thought I didn’t like life and I was scared of everything and I kind of went down that path of depression.
"But when I saw a psychologist and talked through it – I struggled more with anxiety than depression.
"When I realise what was causing it, I could work through it. It’s not that I didn’t like my life or things were bad, it was just I would get really scared when I would do things."
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When asked if she has been formally diagnosed with ADHD, Jessie said: “It was really scary, I didn’t understand why I was the way I was.
"When I first got diagnosed with ADHD, I thought this is incurable, this is me forever and that was an overwhelming thought.
"Other things you can cure but I was in a point of so much pain and confusion at that time in my life, that I just wanted answers and I wanted to get help and to get out of it.
"So when I got that diagnosis I felt really deflated and I actually didn’t handle being diagnosed really well, I was very dramatic about it.”
Jessie and boyfriend Will are currently enjoying life in Australia, as Jessie reunited with her family for the first time since doing the show.
Since appearing on the show over winter, Will has dropped numerous hints that he thinks Jessie is “marriage material” and that he plans to propose to her.
Since leaving the Love Island villa in South Africa earlier this year Jessie and Will have shunned the usual reality star party scene for a quiet life on his farm.
Jessie previously told The Sun: "We haven’t really been doing that much partying, we’ve just been having wholesome times out on the farm.
"We are extremely grateful for the love and support we’ve had on social media. I just think it’s so beautiful.
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"It’s really important to be together in first few months because it could be intense for couples.
"But focusing on us and doing what’s best for our relationship is working for us."
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