‘I’m A Celebrity’ Campmates Praised For ‘Frank And Honest’ Mental Health Discussion

The ‘I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!’ campmates have been praised for a frank discussion on mental health, which was aired as part of Tuesday’s (28 November) show.

A selection of this year’s jungle residents were seen speaking about their own experiences, after Stanley Johnson asked Iain Lee what his talkRADIO show includes.

“We have phone ins and we try and extract stories from the people that call in, we talk a lot about mental health and depression,” Iain explained, prompting Stanley to ask if he’s ever asked a caller about feeling suicidal.

“In essence that question would be asked because I’ve had suicidal thoughts in the past. It is the biggest killer of men, suicide, between 30 and 45,” the presenter replied.

Rebekah Vardy then joined the conversation, sharing her own thoughts and stating: “You draw from experience don’t you, I tried it when I was younger when I was 14.”

“Wow, that’s incredible, I’m sorry to hear that,” Iain replied. “It breaks my heart to think that as a 14 year old you would consider doing something like that but it is really common, did you get help?”

“No,” Becky said. “Because when I was that age, it was something that was pushed under the carpet and it had such a bad effect on me.

“I made such horrific decisions in life, and I got to a point after I had my second child where it just hit me and it does because you can’t run from it forever and that is what I was doing.

“I had really bad postnatal depression with my second, it’s like Pandora’s box opens and when it opens you have to deal with it.”

“I had CBT therapy which changes your brain’s thought process, I had counselling and I was on anti-depressants for a while and then all of a sudden things just started getting better because you learn to deal with things and you need to talk and talk helps you overcome so many things. It is so different now.”

Iain replied: “For my kids’ generation the way will be cleared slightly, I’m not proud that my head went that way, but it’s not a weakness.”

“The mind is a powerful tool” Jamie Lomas added.  “If you let it run away with itself, it will do”.

Glad to see frank & honest discussion re mental health on #ImACelebrity Look forward to time when I don’t think this is brave to do on national tv.
So refreshing to hear Ian Lee and Becky Vardy be so open about their own personal experiences with Mental Health. Effect anyone, anytime, anywhere, anyhow. #ImACelebrity

November 28, 2017
#ImACelebrity Featuring them talking about mental health makes me so happy that’s this is becoming more normalised
The more I see and hear @RebekahVardy the more I like her Strong and feisty when she needs to be but honest and genuine Sharing her personal mental health struggles with the camp ??#imacelebrity ?????

November 28, 2017
What a great platform to discuss mental health on while millions of people watch. Just shows that you really don’t know a persons situation. Be kind to everyone and you’ll get it in return! #ImACelebrity #MentalHealthAwareness

November 28, 2017
#ImACelebrity @iainlee and @RebekahVardy talking openly about mental health issues. Brilliant. Break the stigma. Much love to you xxx
Catching up with #ImACelebrity I’m so happy to see mental health being so openly spoke about within the camp!
So proud of @RebekahVardy for speaking about her mental health.I know from experience that it’s not easy dealing with mental health as well as opening up about it. Becky talking about her mental health will hopefully help people to talk about their mental health #ImACelebrity ?

November 28, 2017
The current series of ‘I’m A Celeb’ has been a hit with viewers, but it hasn’t all been smooth sailing.

The late arrivals of Iain and Kezia Dugdale soured the mood as the contestants were split into teams and forced to compete for food and care packages.

Last week, Iain shed a few tears, explaining that he felt dejected after failing to win meals in a bushtucker trial with caused Amir Khan to remark that he “never cries”, claiming it shows “weakness”.

As viewers slammed the boxer on Twitter, ‘Hollyoaks’ star Jamie became the voice of reason, stating: “It’s not a weakness, it’s a strength sharing your emotions and there is nothing.”

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