Max George has told how he had to have treatment to burn off the spots that covered his body while battling the physical symptoms of depression.
The Wanted singer, 32, recently opened up about how he has been struggling with his mental health for more than 10 years and how he decided to keep his battle to himself until speaking out earlier this year.
Max has now spoken to the MailOnline about how he felt ‘guilty’ and ‘ungrateful’ for feeling unhappy during his time in the band, as he opened up on Mental Health Awareness week as part of a campaign for There is Always Hope.
Candid: Max George has told how he had to have treatment to burn off the spots that covered his body while battling the physical symptoms of depression
During the height of his struggle with his mental health between 2014-15, Max said his ‘chest and back and shoulders’, were covered in spots ‘out of nowhere’.
Max said: ‘I had to have treatment to have it all burnt off.’
Shortly after the treatment, Max had a gig at Disneyland in Paris where he recalled being in agony as he danced with Cinderella during a performance.
He said: ‘I then had to go to Disneyland with the boys to perform and they were aware of the pain I was in because of this treatment and I had to get up and dance with Cinderella and she was ragging my back.’
Revealing he missed out on some of the trip’s highlights, he said: ‘I had to spend the whole night in a cold bath while the boys went out in Paris and that’s when the physical symptoms started.
Physical side effects: During the height of his struggle with mental health between 2014-15, Max said his ‘chest and back and all over his shoulders’, were covered in spots ‘out of nowhere’ (pictured recently)
Brave face: Shortly after the treatment, Max had a gig at Disneyland in Paris where he recalled being in agony as he danced with Cinderella during a performance (pictured at the time)
‘It didn’t occur to me it could be something to do with my mental health, I thought that would just be a feeling not a physical thing.’
Max admitted that for a long time he was confused about what was going on in his head and even had medical tests done to check there was nothing physically wrong.
He said: ‘2014 into 2015 was probably my worst year physically but by then I kind of knew it could be my mental health issues…
‘But it went on for so long I had to have quite a lot of tests done to make sure it wasn’t anything else. I was ill for about four months.’
Love: After years of detailing with his mental health, Max revealed he still doesn’t know what triggers his ‘bad days’, while discussing how his girlfriend Stacey Giggs, 41, supports him
Max first spoke about his issues during a podcast episode with his Strictly Come Dancing co-star Jamie Laing, 32 – something he had previously kept to himself.
The singer said that while he still feels ‘nervous’ talking about his mental health, he wants to help others following the reaction he has received to first speaking out.
Max now admits he ‘doesn’t know’ why it was the right time to speak out and half puts it down to the intensity of Strictly, where he was left with a lot of time to talk to those in the bubble around him due to lockdown restrictions.
The media personality, said: ‘I’d only met Jamie at Strictly I’d never met him before – I hadn’t known him that long.
He said: ‘I then had to go to Disneyland with the boys to perform and they were aware of the pain I was in because of this treatment’
‘I just think that I obviously felt really comfortable and not long after doing Strictly because we weren’t allowed any physical contact with anyone else or to see anyone we did a lot of talking. It was a natural thing that I came out with, which then spiralled into a conversation.’
Although Max eventually opened up about his ongoing battle, the star said he kept his negative thoughts hidden during his time in the hit boy band.
Max said: ‘I never spoke to anybody, I spoke to Tom’s mum on the phone the other night and she’d obviously read some stories. She said we had no idea, no one did.
‘It wasn’t something I didn’t want [to talk about]. One I was confused as to what was going on and why I felt the way I felt.
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Open: Max admitted that for a long time he was confused about what was going on in his head and even had medical tests done to check there was nothing physically wrong
‘Two, I almost felt ungrateful because I’d achieved everything that I said I wanted to, I didn’t want to give off an impression that I wasn’t grateful for that.
‘Three, everyone was on a cloud nine around me, I didn’t want to put a dampener on it, but looking back now, If I’d spoken to Jay or Tom this is how I’m feeling I probably would have felt 100 times better very quickly. But I didn’t know.’
After years of detailing with his mental health, Max revealed he still doesn’t know what triggers his ‘bad days’, while discussing how his girlfriend Stacey Giggs, 41, supports him.
He said: ‘I can literally be so happy and then an hour later my head’s not feeling right, I’ve just learned to realise it’s normal and it can happen.
‘You can’t switch it on and off. It’s something that you live with and deal with, I always try to think yeah I’m having a s**t day right now for no reason but it’s only what’s going on it your head and it’ll pass. And it does, it passes now, it doesn’t stick.’
‘I think partly that’s down to the fact I’ve learned how to deal with it myself because I’ve had it for such a long time and also the support I have from Stacey and my family.
‘When I am feeling like that they know me and know that it’s happening, they know it’s normal for me it’s not like let’s push the panic button. It’s something that will pass.
Strictly stars: Max, who competed in the 2020 series of Strictly, said that while he didn’t feel low while appearing on the programme it did give him a lot of anxiety
When asked how Stacey supports him, Max said: ‘The only thing she needs to do, which she does amazingly, she notices it before I’ve accepted it’s happening.
‘She’ll look at me and say you’re not feeling great are you? The fact I know she knows, makes me feel better.’
‘She’ll just say that and if I’m not feeling good ill say, and she’ll say well everything will be alright – she’s just extremely normal.
He joked: ‘She probably refrains from having a go at me if I’ve done something wrong that day, to keep my spirits up. But she treats everything really normally and calmly and just lets me get on with things.’
Max, who competed in the 2020 series of Strictly, said that while he didn’t feel low while appearing on the programme it did give him a lot of anxiety.
He said: ‘I was extremely anxious while I was on there. Not just for the challenge but it had been a while since I had been back in the UK.
‘I think the thought of people writing things, I’ve dealt with that before but I’ve moved on from all that and I’m happy with Stacey. But that public eye bit I was extremely nervous about.’
He said: ‘I was extremely anxious while I was on there. Not just for the challenge but it had been a while since I had been back in the UK’
Max admitted he now feels in a ‘great place’ and his aim is to help other people come to terms with their own mental health issues.
The singer revealed he will be travelling to America more in the coming months to work on his acting and music careers, while also planning stuff in the UK.
There Is Always Hope campaign launched by Hub of Hope comes as new research shows huge rise in mental health issues across Britain as a result of the pandemic.
Young people have seen their mental health deteriorate the most since the pandemic began, according to new research from Network Rail and national mental health charity, Chasing the Stigma.
Almost three quarters of 18-24-year-olds (69%) say that Covid-19 has had a negative impact on their mental health compared to 28% of over 65s, while nearly half of Brits (48%) agreed that their mental health has taken a hit since the pandemic began.
The research was carried out as part of Network Rail’s new There is Always Hope campaign aimed at encouraging those struggling with their mental health to seek help before they reach crisis point.
If you’ve been affected by this story please contact Chasing the Stigma on the Hub of Hope app which can be downloaded at https://hubofhope.co.uk/
Source: Daily Mail
