Joe Pasquale health: ‘It was devastating for me’ – comedian opens up about a dark time
Josh Hartnett says leaving Hollywood helped his mental health
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Joe Pasquale is the popular British comedian and winner of I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here! The lovable chap opened up about how the lockdown affected even a pretty jovial person such as himself.
“I never realised how much performing defined who I was until it was taken away from me,” Joe admitted on the Mark Dolan Tonight show on GB News.
The comedian added: “I live on my own and for the best part of two years and without that way of expressing myself I was just a bloke in his pants.
“That’s not good for our mental health.”
Mental health difficulties were exacerbated during the lockdown with major challenges for many including a lack of social connectedness and meaningful activities, health concerns, loss of structure, reduced independence and financial hardships.
Many people also faced increased levels of alcohol and drug use, insomnia, and anxiety.
COVID-19, and the response to the pandemic has shown a significant impact on the nation’s mental health through increased exposure to stressors.
For Joe, having not only his passion but also his work taken away from him had affected him greatly.
He admitted: “When you have no way to express who you are, it was devastating for me as a lot of other people on a mental health level.
“I’m pretty well balanced and even I struggled with it.”
More than two-thirds of adults in the UK reported feeling somewhat or very worried about the effect COVID-19 had and is having on their life.
The most common issues affecting wellbeing was worry towards the future (63 percent), feeling stressed or anxious (56 percent) and feeling bored (49 percent), according to The Health Foundation.
The UCL COVID-19 social study of 90,000 UK adults has monitored mental health symptoms throughout lockdown, finding levels of anxiety and depression fell in early June as lockdown measures began to lift.
However, these remained highest among young people, those with lower household income, people with a diagnosed mental illness, people living with children, and people living in urban areas.
Symptoms of depression may include:
- Feelings of sadness, tearfulness, emptiness or hopelessness
- Angry outbursts, irritability or frustration, even over small matters
- Loss of interest or pleasure in most or all normal activities, such as sex, hobbies or sports.
Symptoms of anxiety include:
- Feeling nervous, restless or tense
- Having a sense of impending danger, panic or doom
- Having an increased heart rate
- Breathing rapidly (hyperventilation)
- Sweating.
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