Johnny Ruffo has opened up for the first time about his decade long battle with depression and anxiety.
Speaking to Weekend Sunrise ahead of Youth Mental Health Foundation headspace day this week, the former Home And Away star said his recent brain cancer diagnosis wasn’t the only thing that had caused him stress over the years.
“For me, it wasn’t just brain cancer that caused mental stress for myself,” the 30 year old said.
“Growing up, whether it be having a single parent, trying to deal with that at a young age, not knowing how to deal with it, [were] among a lot of other things [that caused stress for me]… it was learning how to deal with these issues,” he continued.
The actor also admitted that initially he was wary of seeking help.
“Initially, for me personally I’m somewhat proud, like you know, ‘I don’t have a problem,’ that sort of stuff, that bravado… but it slowly creeps up on you. You find yourself being quite depressed.
“Over the past 10 years or more – discounting the last 12 to 18 months because obviously, I’ve been very preoccupied with my brain cancer over that time – there have been many times I’ve been down,” he confessed to The Daily Telegraph on Saturday.
“I had thoughts ‘what if I wasn’t here anymore’ and ‘what’s the point of being here’, things like that,” he went on.
The interview was also the first time Johnny has spoken openly about the domestic violence that he and his older brother witnessed his mother suffer at the hands of a former partner.
Last year Johnny shocked fans by revealing he’d had a 7cm tumour removed from his skull and was currently undergoing chemotherapy for a brain tumour.
If you, or someone you know needs help, speak confidentially to a trained counsellor 24 hours a day:
Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800.
Lifeline on 13 11 14.
This article was originally published on WHO
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