Years & Years frontman Olly Alexander isn’t worried about being on anti-depressants for life.
The 28-year-old singer has always been open about his mental health issues and has revealed he has been taking medication for the past eight years to control his depression and although he was previously worried being becoming addicted to his medication he now is not "ashamed" to take something that helps him not feel "overwhelmed".
In a video interview on the GQ website, he said: "I’ve taken some form of anti-depressant for eight years, I had a year where I didn’t take any a year-and-a-half and then I was like quite worried about it because you think, ‘I don’t wanna be addicted to something.’
"Part of me feels like it would be in some way like shameful to have too – there’s a part of me that feels a bit ashamed that would be the case that I couldn’t cope with life without it or something.
"But then another part of me goes, if this is the way I can best live my life and feel like I’m not overwhelmed or want to top myself then it’s a good thing you know? And I’m not ashamed of that so, no."
The ‘King’ hitmaker revealed that although his success in the music business has helped him build up his self-esteem, he thinks of himself as being different to the person who performs on stage with his band.
He said: "That has helped my self-worth actually, being in Years & Years, that has built my confidence up. But at the same time, it’s very easy and lots of performers talk about this you divorce yourself from the character you have on stage. So the adoration from fans feels like it’s directed at someone whose not you so I think it sometimes doesn’t make a difference. People can be like saying how much they love you but it doesn’t make a difference it doesn’t feel like it’s going in, you just feel like well that’s not me that’s someone else."
Olly Alexander prepared to take anti-depressants for life
