Hiding mental illness was worst part says bressie

The worst part of having a mental illness was trying to hide it from people, Niall Breslin has said.

The former Blizzards frontman and mental health activist was speaking on the Saturday Night Show about how he has lived with anxiety for much of his life and the need for society to "wake up and understand that a vast majority of people have experienced this or dealt with loved ones who have had depression or anxiety".

"We are still unbelieveably shadowed by it and this really frustrates me. Ultimatley what caused most of my issues wasn't the anxiety or depression it was constantly having to hide it and constantly having to make excuses for it."

Bressie earned widespread acclaim recently for the moving speech he gave at the recent Lovin Dublin event. He says that after the event he was "inundated with emails from men saying thank you, dropping their shoulders and saying 'finally' ".

"Its so normal, it's probably the most normal thing in this country yet it's the most disguised thing. It's really frustrating and I don't get it."

See Bressie's Saturday night interview here.

http://youtu.be/6RgwUdnVGSs

Also well worth viewing is his Lovin Dublin speech.

http://youtu.be/-cu8WqQNPZk