SIMON Cowell has bravely spoken about his mental health journey.
The America’s Got Talent creator shared his experiences with depression and therapy while reflecting on his mental health.
GettySimon Cowell spoke on a podcast about men’s mental health, and described his own journey with depression[/caption]
GettyThe star admitted that he’d suffered from depression for years, but didn’t take the idea of therapy seriously and thought he just had to ‘deal with’ his issues[/caption]
“I’ve suffered from depression over the years… but that was just something I just thought, ‘Well, that’s my character trait. I get down,’ and it’s something you deal with,” Simon, 63, shared on The Mirror’s Men in Mind podcast, via People.
Speaking on the topic of therapy, the London-born entrepreneur shared: “I wish I had done this 10 or 20 years ago…it’s like a weight has lifted off my shoulders.”
Television personality Simon reflected on Covid-19, explaining how seeing his friends get “really ill” made him “petrified” that he, his finacée Lauren Silverman, 44, or their son Eric, nine, would catch the disease.
However, Simon said of the difficult period: “It gave me a time to reflect on things in a way I never would have done before. And as things started to calm down a bit, and it was almost like now I’ve got to go from there, back into the real world.
“How do I feel about that? And that’s when this whole notion of – I started to hear a lot more people talking about mental health.”
The One Direction co-founder revealed: “And that’s when I thought, you know what, I’ve kind of looked after my body, you know, through diet, exercise, whatever, pretty well over the years, but what have I done about my brain and my mind and all that kind of thing? And the answer is nothing. And now’s the time to do it. So it was almost like my head going to the gym.”
Despite his decision to look after his mind, Simon admitted that her never took the idea of therapy “seriously,” but friends who spoke to him about their own experiences led him in the right direction.
The British record executive described his first therapy session, saying: “I sat down really embarrassed and I said, ‘Look I just don’t know where to start.’
“And within about 20 minutes it was as if I’d known [the therapist] for 10, 20 years, he’d put me so much at ease, and you realize you’re talking to a professional, and they don’t judge you, they listen to you.”
Simon shared: “It was just like this massive load lifting off my shoulders.”
The star added: “Now I am happy to talk about it to encourage others too.”
MAKING A CHANGE
Simon has lost a lot of weight in recent years after a lifestyle overhaul that saw him embark on a health and fitness regime.
The reality TV judge has admitted he used to binge on sausage rolls, burgers, and jam tarts made by his personal chefs.
However, since ditching his unhealthy lifestyle after suffering a fall at his London home in 2017 he has dropped four waist sizes.
Last year, he shared: “I looked at a picture of myself from four years ago and thought, ‘Oh christ.’
“The diet I had then… phew. And everyone thinks I’ve had a gastric band – I haven’t.”
‘ENOUGH WAS ENOUGH’
Simon has previously admitted that he used Botox and fillers, but soon changed his attitude toward cosmetic procedures.
He told The Sun: “There was a phase where everyone was having their faces pumped full of this and the other.
“I saw a picture of me from ‘before’ the other day, and didn’t recognize it as me first of all.”
In April last year, he said he decided to finally stop using the injectables when little Eric “was in hysterics” due to his face.
“Enough was enough,” Simon stated. “There is no filler in my face at all now. Zero.”
GettySimon shared that his fears for his family during Covid-19 were ‘petrifying,’ but prompted him to reflect on his mental health and seek help[/caption]
GettyThe entrepreneur admitted that he was ’embarrassed’ during his first therapy session but was quickly ‘put so much at ease,’ and now wants to encourage others to be open about their mental health[/caption]
GettySimon likened therapy to how he ‘looked after his body’ after undergoing a huge lifestyle overhaul, stating that he realized it was time to work on his mind, too[/caption]
