Most of us remember Kit Harington as the bold, righteous and mentally strong Game of Thrones protagonist Jon Snow. Little do we know about the struggles he was facing in real life, which he recently decided to share. It is surprising to note that even with all the riches and fame, one cannot guarantee one’s happiness. Bliss is a state of mind, and mental health is a concept often overlooked. People rarely talk about it, and those who come forward to share should be seen as brave instead of being shamed for it.
Harington talked to The Sunday Times in a recent interview, “Things that have happened to me since Thrones ended, and that were happening during Thrones, were of a pretty traumatic nature and they did include alcohol.”
“You get to a place where you feel like you are a bad person, you feel like you are a shameful person. And you feel that there’s no way out, that’s just who you are,” Harington recalled. “And getting sober is the process of going, ‘No, I can change.’”
“One of my favourite things I learnt recently is that the expression ‘a leopard doesn’t change its spots’ is completely false: that a leopard actually does change its spots. I just think that’s the most beautiful thing. It really helped.”
“That was something I kind of clung to; the idea that I could make this huge fundamental change in who I was and how I went about my life.”
When asked about feeling suicidal, he said, “I will give you an answer to that question: the answer is yes. Yes of course. I went through periods of real depression where I wanted to do all sorts of things.”
“I definitely don’t want to be seen as a martyr or special,” Harington went on to insist. “I’ve been through something, it’s my stuff. If it helps someone, that’s good.
“I will say about my addictions that I kept them very, very quiet and I was incredibly secretive and incredibly locked up with them. So they came as quite a surprise to the people around me. Which is quite often the case, I guess.”
We would encourage anyone who identifies with the topics raised in this article to reach out. Organisations that can offer support include Samaritans on 116 123 (www.samaritans.org) or Mind on 0300 123 3393 (www.mind.org.uk). Readers in the US are encouraged to visit mentalhealth.gov or the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.
