A brave Dundee councillor has opened up about his personal mental health battle.
Charlie Malone - who was re-elected in Lochee for Scottish Labour last week - has suffered from depression, severe anxiety and PTSD for years.
But he is now overcoming his demons and is encouraging people to start talking about their own issues.
Charlie - who is a senior lecturer at Abertay University - has never spoken about his own problems.
But he’ll be doing an online talk to help mark Mental Health Awareness Week 2022.
In it he says that talking about our own mental health is not easy.
When people suffer from a condition such as anxiety or depression, talking about problems can seem like the most difficult thing in the world.
Charlie was first diagnosed with generalised anxiety disorder, or GAD, when he was 21.
GAD manifests as excessive and exaggerated worry about everyday life events. It’s a tendency to catastrophise absolutely everything for no obvious reason.
Charlie said: “Part of my illness also involves an overbearing sense of failure which sees me constantly pushing myself to do more, to work harder, to be better.
“I think this is the main reason why I’ve always been reluctant to talk about my own mental health – the perceived sense of failure that comes from admitting that something is wrong, and you need help.
“As well as GAD I’ve had brushes with PTSD - following a life-threatening illness a few years ago - and depression.
“I’ve never really spoken openly about these illnesses, not even to professionals.”
Charlie said that throwing himself into work and pursuing political aspirations in 2017 has helped him deal with his problems.
He explained: “I’d say that is the main factor in my decision to do the talk but I also hope that by opening up about my own experience it demonstrates that mental illness doesn’t discriminate.
“It doesn’t matter if you have a successful career, a loving family, money in the bank – mental illness can affect anyone.
“I’m living proof, no matter how well I’ve hidden it.”
And he added: “Talking about my problems in such a public way is a very daunting prospect and not something I think I’ll enjoy doing.
“However, I hope that by speaking out, I encourage other people who are suffering to start talking about their own struggles and seek help.”
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