Doctor Who star Christopher Eccleston reveals he used to have anorexia and considered suicide
Actor says he was ‘very ill’ with condition while filming Doctor Who
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Your support makes all the difference.Christopher Eccleston has revealed he battled with anorexia while filming Doctor Who, saying his depression in recent years has almost driven him to suicide.
The actor, who took on the role of the Doctor in 2005, wrote about his mental health struggles in his forthcoming autobiography, I Love The Bones Of You.
“Many times I’ve wanted to reveal that I’m a lifelong anorexic and dysmorphic,’ he wrote.
“I never have. I always thought of it as a filthy secret, because I’m northern, because I’m male and because I’m working-class.”
Eccleston added that he was especially unwell when shooting Doctor Who: “The illness is still there raging within me as the Doctor. People love the way I look in that series, but I was very ill. The reward for that illness was the part. And therein lies the perpetuation of the whole sorry situation.”
Last year, Eccleston claimed his career was almost destroyed by his tenure on Doctor Who, saying he was “blacklisted” following his decision to quit the series after just one season by the “BBC regime”.
In his memoirs, Eccleston also reportedly revealed he was diagnosed with severe clinical depression following the breakdown of his marriage in 2015.
He said that during filming of the BBC drama The A Word, he began to contemplate suicide and rang a psychiatric hospital for help.
“I was in a state of extreme anxiety,” he wrote, “convinced I was either going to die or I was going to kill myself. In my despair I reached for my phone and looked up a psychiatric hospital, I rang ahead, grabbed my bag and ran.”
The actor said he takes prescribed antidepressants: “I am on them to this day. I could be on them for the rest of my days. I do have an issue with that. I would like to attempt slowly to reduce the dose, to experience reality again, to see how I do…
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“And yet, interestingly I have received some of the best reviews of my life since I started taking them.”
I Love The Bones Of You, which also focusses on Eccleston’s career, upbringing in 1970s Salford and the effect that his father's dementia has had on him, will be published on 19 September.
- Samaritans is available 24/7 every day of the year to listen and offers support to anyone who is struggling to cope. Contact Samaritans by phone, free of charge, on: 116123, or visit samaritans.org to find details of local branches
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