Love Island’s Chris Hughes reveals girlfriend Olivia Attwood is supporting him through his anxiety issues as he breaks down at mental health campaign launch
CHRIS Hughes has revealed how girlfriend Olivia Attwood is supporting him through his ongoing battle with anxiety.
The Love Island star, 22, has been candid about his mental health struggles and broke down at an emotional mental health awareness campaign launch today as he recalled his darkest moments.
When asked by The Sun Online how supportive Liv, 26, has been, he explained: "Yeah she is. She 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."
Earlier in the day Chris appeared on stage to launch the Don't Bottle It Up campaign, a collaboration between Topman and charity CALM, which comes a day after a black and white advert shot by renowned photographer Rankin was posted on his Instagram page under the ruse L'Eau De Chris - bottled water infused with Chris's tears.
During a Q&A session Chris became overwhelmed with emotion as he recalled the moment he turned to his mum for help.
He said: “I suffered silently initially and that was the issue, there's the phrase 'suffering silently' and that's where things were tough for me, when I opened up to my mum things became easier and stuff..."
Becoming tearful, he was unable to finish his answer, almost leaving his seat at one point as he struggled with his emotions, while host Matt Johnson gave him a comforting pat on the leg.
Explaining his breakdown shortly after the Q&A, he said: "Just talking about everything in front of an audience... because it brings back memories of when it was really tough, essentially, and then I mentioned my mum who helped me through loads of it back then, so just tough."
He continued: "I wasn't nervous about telling her. What I did wrong was I did keep everything to myself. I did think it was something I could cope with.
"I went and saw doctors and stuff but they knew it was anxiety, there's not a lot they can really do for it. For me it got to a stage where I was scared to come home from work.
"I was in a 9-5 job but I didn't want to leave work because I got into a routine where my anxiety would kick in the moment I stepped into my house about half 5. All I wanted to do was stay in work. I would never look forward to coming home."
The #DontBottleItUp campaign aims to highlight how men across the UK often bottle up their emotions at the expense of their mental health.
It comes as new research by CALM shows that 84 per cent of men in the UK say they bottle up their emotions with nearly half saying they suppress their emotions often or at least once day. This even more stark for younger men, with almost two in three 18-24 year olds saying they regularly hide their true feelings.
Five bottles of water infused with Chris's tears are being auctioned on Topman's website with proceeds from the sales going to the charity.
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