Peter Andre
Peter Andre is a global media star prominently known for his successful music and television career with an incredible social following of over 8 million. This year marks his 30 ye...
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What is your background?
My name is Peter Andre. I was born in England in 1973 that long ago. Can you believe it?
Does being in the public eye impact your mental health?
Being in the public eye can impact your mental health, but I don't think it's any different than any other job you might do. I think that being in the public eye in a way means that yes, you've got to probably have a bit of tougher skin, but there are workplaces that are not public where you really need thick skin as well. So I think mental health can affect anyone in any profession at any time. The one thing I will say about being in the public eye is where you can help with mental health is that you can talk about it on your platforms, which gives other people who are going through it, someone to listen to, someone to look at and go, well, if they're going through it and they're okay and they're smiling, it means I can be okay and I can smile. I think also being in the public eye means it kind of keeps you in check a bit. It kind of helps you to kind of say, well, what I've just learned, I should share with other people. Let them experience what I'm talking about because I can promise you this. A lot of people, and I know this, it happened to me, when you go to a doctor who's never had a breakdown or who's never had a panic attack or who's never had anything maybe wrong with their mental health, and you are trying to tell them, and they may turn around and say, well, we'll give you this medication or whatever. You may get the feeling of like, yeah, but you are just doing this on a medical level. You don't understand how I feel you because you haven't experienced it. Well, I will say is that as time's gone on, I've realised a lot of these doctors and a lot of people that I've spoken with actually were going through it and are able to understand what you're going through because, and it does help if there's someone that has been through it because then it's relatable and you feel like there has to be a way out because this person found a way out and there is a way out. There is there's many ways out.
What does mental health mean to you?
Mental health as a subject. Mental health as something I've experienced means so much to me to be able to talk about it, to be at a stage in our lives when we can actually all talk about it. We can have forums like this where you can ask questions and not feel afraid. And more importantly, probably the most important thing is to realise that you are not alone. I suffered mental health from my mid to late twenties, and I was out in and out of therapy and on medication for years, and I couldn't talk about it Back then. We weren't allowed to talk about it. Back then, it was taboo. In fact, a lot of people didn't even know what it was. We didn't know that if a panic attack, if you had a panic attack, that that's what it was called. I didn't know that social phobia was social phobia. I didn't know that intrusive thoughts were intrusive thoughts. So you just think there's something wrong with you. You think you are broken, and you try and find every way you can get help without telling those closest to you because they may not understand. But now we're at a time where we can talk about it and you realise there's millions upon millions of people going through this right now.