Robbie Williams says he's 'in the best place he's ever been' mentally
Robbie Williams has revealed he is in “the best place I’ve ever been” mentally, as he releases his semi-autobiographical film Better Man.
The pop star, 50, has previously spoken candidly about his mental health, which he has struggled with over the course of his decades-long career.
However, speaking to The Telegraph, the Angels singer said he was "really excited" when asked about how he is feeling amid the premiere of his new film.
"See, I’ve struggled with mental illness, and all the way through the most successful parts of my career, I couldn’t derive joy from them," he continued. "There’s been a couple of decades, maybe a bit more, of just depression, anxiety, agoraphobia, dyslexia, dyscalculia - all the things we diagnose our friends with at dinner parties, I’ve got them."
Williams praised his wife, Ayda Field, and children for their support and helping him through his mental health struggles.
"Through working on myself, through seeking help and taking help, and through the love of a good woman and four kids, and just growing up and maturing, I’m in the best place that I’ve ever been."
In an exclusive interview with Yahoo UK, Williams added that the stigma surrounding mental health is changing “for the positive”, particularly for young pop stars like he was. "We were in the dark ages, when it comes to talking, thinking, representing mental health as a problem. Now we’re not."
Earlier this year, Williams said the "only" reason he is still alive is because he spoke up about his mental health and sought help. In a message to men’s suicide prevention charity Andy’s Man Club, Williams said the organisation’s work has "blown me away".
"I’m only here because I talked. I’m only here because I asked for help and then took it," he wrote to the charity, which shared the singer's message in a post on Instagram. "Thankfully the stigma around mental health is coming down but I realise for a lot of men in particular there is still a long way to go."
Talking about his ongoing battle with depression and anxiety, Williams said previously: "I’ve got a disease that wants to kill me and it’s in my head, so I have to guard against that."
In his 2023 Netflix documentary, Robbie Williams: Raw. Honest. Real, Williams reflected on his addiction to drugs and alcohol that followed him throughout his time as a member of boy band Take That and for parts of his solo career.
"I used to drink and do drugs because it helped me not feel this way, when you strip that away all the everything comes up that you’ve been suppressing, and I’ve been suppressing that for years. I’m depressed and I’m mentally ill," he said.
From 2006 to 2009, Williams suffered from agoraphobia, a fear of being in places or situations from which there is no escape, that left him unable to "face the public".
He told The Sun: "It was my body and mind telling me I shouldn’t go anywhere, that I couldn’t do anything. It was telling me to just wait - so I literally just sat and waited.
"I was agoraphobic from around 2006 to 2009. Those years were just spent wearing a cashmere kaftan, eating Kettle chips, growing a beard and staying in."
Watch: Robbie Williams admits he thought he would die young as he pays tribute to Liam Payne
Read more about mental health:
10 simple ways to improve your mental wellbeing today (Yahoo Life UK, 5-min read)
UK at risk of becoming a ‘burnt-out nation’, mental health charity warns (PA Media, 4-min read)
Unmarried people more likely to be depressed, study suggests (Sky News, 2-min read)
