Yungblud relives his battle with anxiety and depression
The punk-rock singer was once overwhelmed with suicidal thoughts
By Steve Brown
Words: Thomas Stichbury
Yungblud urges fans to take care of themselves as he opens up about his struggles with mental health.
The ‘Doctor Doctor’ singer details his ongoing battle with anxiety and depression in Attitude’s September Style issue – which is available to download to any device and buy globally now.
“[I’d get] blazed and fucked up,” he recalls. “Then I’d sit in my room and cry my fucking eyes out.”
Yungblud – aka Dominic Harrison – considered taking his own life after leaving his hometown of Doncaster, in South Yorkshire, to study at art school aged 16.
Yungblud shot exclusively for Attitude’s September Style issue by Olivier Yoan
“I moved to London and contemplated suicide for six months,” he says. “Ultimately, it was a massive journey to being comfortable in myself. But in that journey, I got more confused.”
He continues: “Art school was almost, pardon the pun, paint-by-numbers ‘this is how you should create’. Creation was liberation for me, but when creation became science and maths, I was like, ‘What the fuck am I going to do?’”
Despite finding an almost therapeutic release in music, the pop-rocker, now 22, still deals with his demons on a daily basis: “I have to get talked off the ledge 10 times a day, but I know who I am now.”
“There is always the dark part in everyone’s brain. You wake up in the morning, you’ve got a knot in your stomach and you don’t know why.
“But you just have to tell yourself that it’s fine, breathe, go for a walk, make love to your girlfriend or boyfriend, anything that will make it better.”
Yungblud shot exclusively for Attitude’s September Style issue by Olivier Yoan
Stressing the importance of having a coping mechanism in times of need, Yungblud encourages anyone who is feeling vulnerable to write their feelings out.
“It doesn’t matter if you’re not a poet,” he maintains. “If I can’t sleep, I just write what I’m thinking, even if it’s ‘I feel like shit’ 150 times. Bang. It gets out.”
Yungblud – whose new single Die A Little is out Friday – was diagnosed with ADHD as a kid and is currently working on a graphic novel titled ‘The Twisted Tales of the Ritalin Club’, due for release in October.
Read the full interview with Yungblud in Attitude’s September Style issue – which also features model Denek Kania on a second cover – available to download and to order globally now.
Buy now and take advantage of our best-ever subscription offers: three issues for £3 in print, 13 issues for £19.99 to download to any device.
