Romesh Ranganathan reveals he ‘couldn’t see the point in carrying on’ as he discusses darkest days and suicidal thoughts
ROMESH Ranganathan revealed he ‘couldn’t see the point in carrying on’ while opening up about his darkest days and suicidal thoughts.
The comedian, 47, is a fan favourite who hosts hit shows for BBC and Sky One.
In a new interview with Runners World UK, the star reflected on his battles with mental health.
Romesh shared: “When I was 18 or 19 years old, I feel like I came very close [to] ending my life.
“I just couldn’t see the point in carrying on. I was super depressed.
“Then I started to do suicide ideation, where you start to fantasise about it.
“The best way I can describe it, when I thought about taking my own life, it felt like a weight was being lifted.
“Mental health is something I’m still aware of, and it’s been a battle for me.
“I think once you come close to something like that, it’s a bit like being an ex-smoker: you have to stay on top of it.”
He added: “I’m very privileged in my life now, but sometimes I can feel I might be getting a little dark in my head, or the anxiety creep in.
“Sometimes, to be honest with you, it can be that I’ve not been running. But it’s been an ongoing struggle.
“I’ve only relatively recently dealt with this p***k that’s living inside my head, this inner voice that’s constantly telling me I’m a piece of s**t.
“That’s something I’ve had to live with for a long time.
“Now I don’t have it anymore, but I know what it’s like.”
He also shared: “Running can be a great break from everything else.
“When you go home, you have the kids running around and other stuff going on.
“When you’re running, you can zone out a little bit – and that’s when ideas tend to come.”
The full interview can be read in the May issue of Runner’s World UK, on sale now.
It is not the first time that Romesh has opened up about his mental health struggles.
Last year, he said on the Original Penguin X Campaign Against Living Miserably Under the Surface podcast: “Sometimes you can use humour to deflect and that’s something to be aware of.
“I think it can be really useful. I have a very dark sense of humour, and my family have a very dark sense of humour.
“For example, when my dad passed away, my brother came home and found my dad collapsed after he had a heart attack and passed away.
“I turned up and immediately started crying and the next day we were round at my mum’s house and dealing with the aftermath of that and people coming round.
“My brother subjected me to a 10 minute roast about the sounds I make when I cry.
You're Not Alone
EVERY 90 minutes in the UK a life is lost to suicide
It doesn’t discriminate, touching the lives of people in every corner of society – from the homeless and unemployed to builders and doctors, reality stars and footballers.
It’s the biggest killer of people under the age of 35, more deadly than cancer and car crashes.
And men are three times more likely to take their own life than women.
Yet it’s rarely spoken of, a taboo that threatens to continue its deadly rampage unless we all stop and take notice, now.
That is why The Sun launched the You’re Not Alone campaign.
The aim is that by sharing practical advice, raising awareness and breaking down the barriers people face when talking about their mental health, we can all do our bit to help save lives.
Let’s all vow to ask for help when we need it, and listen out for others… You’re Not Alone.
If you, or anyone you know, needs help dealing with mental health problems, the following organisations provide support:
- CALM, www.thecalmzone.net, 0800 585 858
- Heads Together,www.headstogether.org.uk
- HUMEN www.wearehumen.org
- Mind, www.mind.org.uk, 0300 123 3393
- Papyrus, www.papyrus-uk.org, 0800 068 41 41
- Samaritans,www.samaritans.org, 116 123
“And we were properly laughing about it. He goes, ‘Listen man, we’ve got to talk about some of the sounds that you were making, it was mad!
“I’ve never heard noises like that come out of a person!’ and we just started laughing about it.
“And I know it sounds super dark but that almost felt cathartic.
“We were going through this horrible thing, but you can still find light in it and we can still joke.”