‘I was drinking myself to sleep!’ Josh Widdicombe reveals he’s started taking antidepressants after suffering anxiety and panic attacks
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By Callum Wells For Mailonline
Published: | Updated:
Josh Widdicombe has revealed he’s started taking antidepressants, after suffering debilitating anxiety and panic attacks.
The comedian, 40, who has previously opened up about his mental health struggles, confessed he was drinking himself to sleep at the peak of his battle.
But it all came to a head during filming for The Last Leg’s Christmas Special in December 2022, when he decided it was time to see his GP.
Josh told fans on his Parenting Hell podcast: ‘To give you an idea of what kind of place I was in then, I was drinking to get to sleep, I was having panic attacks.’
His co-host Rob Beckett, added: ‘You were stretched beyond belief at home and at work, you’d committed to too many things, you were trying to please too many people at the same time, which ultimately led to you not enjoying life, and feeling stressed and fed up.’
‘I was drinking myself to sleep!’ Josh Widdicombe has revealed he’s started taking antidepressants, after suffering debilitating anxiety and panic attacks (pictured in 2022)
Brave: The comedian, 40, who has previously opened up about his mental health struggles, confessed he was drinking himself to sleep at the peak of his battle (pictured in 2021)
The Hammersmith-native continued: ‘I got to the point where I couldn’t sleep, I was having panic attacks before I got into bed in the evening. It’s been a long old journey.
‘The whole thing was so absurd, there was this moment when I was on The Last Leg Christmas Special. I was dressed as Kermit the Frog, you know when Kermit the Frog is Bob Cratchit, I was feeling quite down at this point. Not even related to the outfit.
‘I thought, “I’ve never been so depressed.” It was a chemical imbalance. You’ve got to laugh about it because it’s f**king absurd.’
On approaching his GP with his struggles, Josh went on: ‘It was the best thing that’s ever happened to me. It sounds really scary, it sounds like admitting you’ve got a problem, and you can’t fix it yourself.’
‘They put me on Escitalopram… the reason I think it’s important to talk about this, is because I was almost embarrassed by being on them. You get two weeks of side effects as you went onto them.’
An encounter at a friend’s 40th birthday party soon took away any ’embarrassment’ as he realised he wasn’t aloe in taking the medication.
Josh revealer how he was nervous about explaining why he wasn’t drinking alcohol, before two other guests said they were on it too.
He continued: ‘That’s when I first realised how prevalent it is, that people have had to go on this, and it’s not talked about at all. One in six adults in the UK is on or has been on antidepressants. There is a huge stigma attached.’
Uh-oh: But it all came to a head during filming for The Last Leg’s Christmas Special in December 2022, when he decided it was time to see his GP (L-R: Josh, Adam Hills and Alex Brooker)
