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Thursday, October 13, 2016 2:47pm ET by  
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Will Young reveals PTSD diagnosis: 'I slowly began to unravel'

Singer Will Young has revealed that he suffers from post traumatic stress disorder

The talented star, who recently quit 'Strictly Come Dancing' citing "personal reasons", has opened up about his mental health struggles and confessed to London Live's London Real that he only really found out about PTSD after suffering a breakdown and realised the traits that defined it aligned closely with what he was experiencing:

"PTSD is a thing I learned about because I got it, I had a breakdown, after my fifth album, 'Echoes'. It was kind of the album I always wanted to do, and then I moved into this perfect house, and my life was perfect, and I was like, 'This could be pictured in Wallpaper magazine'."

"I was just at a loss, I had a number one album, top five single, and I thought 'Oh, this is not good, this is not going to be easy', and then just slowly began to unravel.”

He went onto add that he initially thought he was experiencing depersonalisation, but went to get help and was accurately diagnosed with PTSD:

"Then I went into theatre, did Cabaret for the first time, and then I got PTSD and got depersonalisation and derealisation, which is when your body can't cope with the flooding of emotions from the past, so it shuts down. I couldn't see my face in the mirror, I couldn't recognise places or family or friends."

Will Young also told the programme that the connection he has with his fans and being able to perform "saved my life": It's completely spiritual, and that is something that is beautiful, and I'd go as far as to say that probably saved my life. Knowing that authenticity. That has pulled me through having PTSD, definitely."

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Watch him on 'Strictly' here:

 

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