Nadia Sawalha’s husband opened up on his battle with depression and alcohol during an appearance on Thursday’s Loose Women.
Mark Adderley was a special guest on ITV show, where he opened on his issues amid the launch of their new male mental health campaign, Stand By Your Men, which is part of the show’s Lighten the Load initiative.
There, Mark revealed to the panel that he once called his wife from a jail cell after being arrested for drink-driving during the height of his battle with the booze.
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Special guest: Nadia Sawalha’s husband opened up on his battle with depression and alcohol during an appearance on Thursday’s Loose Women
Discussing why her husband of 18 years decided to come on the daytime show, Nadia, 55, explained: ‘Even though this is like going to the dentist for Mark, he was really keen to do it because our Lighten the Load campaign, we’re all so enormously proud of it and the fact we’re continuing with this.
‘And it’s such a vital thing to talk about because we are still so far back in being able to really allow men, I think, to talk about their own struggles. We’ve all got a kind of fear about it.’
Speaking candidly about his issues, Mark added: ‘I think talking about it is the only way you can normalise it, sort of make it part of everyday conversation.’
He continued: ‘When I car crashed my life through addiction, a number of people didn’t realise I had such a problem.
Candid: Mark Adderley opened on his issues amid the launch of their new male mental health campaign, Stand By Your Men, which is part of the show’s Lighten the Load initiative
‘Half of the stress with mental health is hiding it, concealing it, and concealing it is where I think addition comes in, because people conceal it to drink, through drugs, through all sorts of compulsive behaviour.
‘So yeah… when we talk about it, it is sort of like sharing and hopefully someone somewhere finds something that connects with them.’
Meanwhile, the television producer went on to discuss his alcohol addiction, in which he revealed all on his run-in with the law.
He said: ‘The diagnosis was about four years ago. And it’s funny because when you live a life of excess… but at the same time I was functioning in my world… friends didn’t realise that I was spiralling out of control in my private life and so they were surprised.
His truth: Speaking candidly about his issues, Mark added: ‘I think talking about it is the only way you can normalise it, sort of make it part of everyday conversation’
He continued: ‘When I car crashed my life through addiction, a number of people didn’t realise I had such a problem’
‘There were stages – I was done for drink driving. When you phone your wife from a cell, you’re not thinking about depression, you’re thinking about behaviour – “My behaviour’s wrong” and then as you move through life you move away from those distractions and those co-dependencies and then suddenly you’re left with yourself and you think, “Hang on, I don’t feel any better.”
‘You feel as vulnerable, as raw, as depressed and as stressed and anxious.’
Nadia added: ‘We’ve learnt since that so many people that drink or use stuff actually had depression before and that’s how they medicated. When Mark got the diagnosis, we were almost relieved.’
Shock: ‘There were stages – I was done for drink driving. When you phone your wife from a cell, you’re not thinking about depression, you’re thinking about behaviour’
This discussion comes months after Nadia admitted that she feels ‘addicted to saving people’ after earning a reputation as a ‘rescuer.’
Speaking during an episode of Loose Women in November, she told that she supported her husband Mark when he entered rehab for abuse, and it has since become her ‘shtick’ to help people.
Nadia went onto tell the panel that Mark’s sobriety has become ‘part of their life,’ and he’s now been teetotal for 15 years.
She said: ‘When someone has got sober it is part of your life. Everyday its part of our lives. When he went into rehab as the partner every week you have all these sessions.
Opening up: ‘As you move through life you move away from those distractions and those co-dependencies and then suddenly you’re left with yourself and you think, “Hang on, I don’t feel any better’
‘They said there is rarely a relationship between an addict without the other person being a rescuer. When I look back into my past relationships almost everyone has had serious problems.
‘It really made me think. Over and over again it’s the same. Its because my eldest sister Dina was painfully shy as a child and I used to love looking after people. I got this label with people that I would sort it. That became my shtick.
‘I thought that was the best thing about myself. Actually no, what you’re doing is avoiding yourself and you’re not having to question your own stuff.’
Loose Women is on weekdays from 12:30pm on ITV
Helping hand: This discussion comes months after Nadia admitted that she feels ‘addicted to saving people’ after earning a reputation as a ‘rescuer’