Will Young opens up about mental health issues, reveals he had a breakdown after fifth album

Will Young offered an in-depth insight into his life with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in a special interview which aired last week.

37-year-old Will shocked fans when he quit Strictly Come Dancing on October 11, citing personal reasons for his untimely exit. Last Friday (October 30), the ‘Jealousy’ singer was interviewed for a segment on London-focused TV station London Live, where he went into further detail about his life with PTSD.

During the interview, he disclosed that he first became aware of his condition in 2011. ITV had previously reported that he believed the illness was caused by a mixture of keeping his sexuality secret, being bullied at primary school and being separated from his twin brother at birth.

“PTSD is a thing I learned about because I got it, I had a breakdown, after my fifth album, called Echoes,” he explained.

“It was kind of the album I always wanted to do, and then I moved into this perfect house, and my life was perfect, and I was like, ‘This could be pictured in Wallpaper magazine.’

“I was just at a loss, I had a number one album, top five single, and I thought ‘Oh, this is not good, this is not going to be easy’, and then just slowly began to unravel.

“Then I went into theatre, did Cabaret for the first time, and then I got PTSD and got depersonalisation and derealisation, which is when your body can’t cope with the flooding of emotions from the past, so it shuts down.

“I couldn’t see my face in the mirror, I couldn’t recognise places or family or friends.”

Will, who revealed earlier this year that shame over his sexuality left him addicted to alcohol and pornography, admitted himself to trauma center Khiron House for treatment in 2012. He described his therapists as “incredible,” adding, “it was my therapist that said ‘I think you’ve got trauma.’ If it wasn’t for her I think I’d probably be on a cocktail of medication and probably would’ve killed myself.”

He went on to speak about how being on stage had helped his recovery. “I can only talk for myself but I think there’s a huge need for affirmation that must be in there. A drive.

“There’s a bit of a monster that, as soon as I walk on the stage, I’m like, ‘Ahh, the applause is there,'” he added.

“I think you need that, it must be about wanting to voice something that couldn’t be voiced.

“And then it becomes about communication, and because the communication is very pure, it can’t help but tap in to something with other people, and then it comes this moulding mass of energy, and it can’t be described.

“It’s completely spiritual, and that is something that is beautiful, and I’d go as far as to say that probably saved my life. Knowing that authenticity. That has pulled me through having PTSD, definitely.”

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