Adwoa Aboah opens up about her depression and attempted suicide as she joins royals' Heads Together mental health campaign
Model Adwoa Aboah today spoke about her attempted suicide and depression, saying she feels a responsibility to help others with mental health issues.
The 24-year-old, who has modelled for Calvin Klein, H&M and Fendi and this month appeared on the cover of American Vogue, features in one of 10 films being released by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry tomorrow as part of their Heads Together mental health campaign.
The film shows Aboah discussing her battle with addiction, bipolar disorder and depression with her mother Camilla Lowther, the founder of a fashion management firm.
Aboah, who grew up in Ladbroke Grove, said: "It was the first time my mum and I had spoken about things like this. It’s really difficult seeing your role model or your parent cry. That was really hard."
She first developed mental health issues aged 14 at boarding school and spent time in three rehab centres before taking an overdose in October 2015.
She told the Standard: "Mental health isn’t all of me but it’s a massive part of my journey and a massive part of my whole being. Having got through it - it’s 100 per cent my responsibility to use it for something bigger and to be one of many voices for people who might not have someone to talk to or understand what’s going on."
Aboah self-medicated with drugs from a young age while she struggled with anxiety. She said: "I just wanted to jump out of my body sometimes and be someone else."
"School was unbelievably painful. It was five years of being pretty sad. It was always there - my mum called it the ‘dark side’. Then I just started to crack. My methods weren’t working. There were weeks when it was just unbearable."
In 2015 she tried to kill herself with an overdose at a rehab centre in London. She spent four days in a coma before being moved to a psychiatric hospital, where she spent a month recovering.
She said: "I thought I was a massive burden on everyone. I was becoming less of a person and just this walking zombie. I was losing everything and couldn’t stay awake."
"There was a lot of self-harm. Staying up all night and sleeping all day. Then the day came... I just didn’t want to be on the planet any more."
Aboah is now doing well and said 2017 is her year. She said of the royals: "These three people working together for the first time on a charity, on something no one talks about, something that is so stigmatised. It’s the coolest thing in the world."
Other films in the campaign feature rapper Professor Green, cricketer Freddie Flintoff and comedian Ruby Wax. A statement on behalf of the royals said: "Since we launched Heads Together last May, we have seen time and time again that shattering stigma on mental health starts with simple conversations."
Adwoa Aboah opens up about her attempted suicideAdwoa AboahAmerican VogueH&MPrince HarryDuchess of CambridgePrince WilliamProfessor GreenFreddie FlintoffAdwoa Aboah opens up about her depression and attempted suicide"Mental health isn’t all of me but it’s a massive part of my journey"
Adwoa Aboah opens up about her depression and attempted suicide as she joins royals' Heads Together mental health campaignPublishedImageMedium width1Wednesday, March 29, 2017 - 11:19OnEnable video endboarddefaultWednesday, March 29, 2017 - 11:15Greater LondonGBKey Points