David Harewood has revealed heartbreaking details about the night he was sectioned due to his mental health and battling psychosis.
In a new podcast interview, the Supergirl and Homeland star said he heard voices and would have jumped off a bridge if he had been told to.
“I did everything that voice told me to do that night. If that voice had told me to jump off the Thames Bridge, I would have done it. I would have done it”, he said on The Diary of a CEO podcast.
‘If that voice had told me to jump off the Thames Bridge, I would have done it’: David Harewood has revealed heartbreaking details of the night he was severed amid his battle with psychosis
According to the NHS, psychosis is “when people lose touch with reality a bit”. It can involve seeing or hearing things that other people cannot see or hear (hallucinations) and believing things that are not actually true (illusions).
Recalling the night he was sectioned for his own protection, the actor and author said he heard voices and thought he even heard the voice of Martin Luther King Jr.
He said the voice told him to go to a store in Camden, which was closed, before a taxi driver alerted the police.
“I did everything that voice told me to do that night. If that voice had told me to jump off the Thames Bridge, I would have done it. I would have done it”, he said on The Diary of a CEO podcast
“You hear voices and one of the aspects of psychosis, which I have suffered from, is that you can hear voices and have delusions and delusions, which seem incredibly real to you,” he explained.
‘I was lying in my bed and I just heard this voice in my head saying ‘wake up’, so I sat up in my bed, looking around thinking ‘where did that come from? come?”
Speaking of Martin Luther King, he added: “He said: ‘When you played with me when I was a child, I entered your heart.’ And he said: ‘Even if I talk to you about ‘beyond the grave, I need you and two or three other people in the world to activate something and bridge the gap between good and evil.’ And he said ‘so you’re going to sacrifice yourself tonight and you are going to be an angel.’
David added: “He [the voice] went on to say, “Listen, I’m going to tell you who I am now because you’re going to be very scared but you have to go to Camden, you have to go into the store. Don’t be surprised if it’s open, it’s three in the morning. Don’t be surprised, whatever you do, don’t look back…’ I got up, put my clothes on and walked to Camden, obviously the store was closed.’
He added that a taxi driver alerted the authorities.
“I was exhausted and thought I had to go home and I flagged down a taxi and had no money,” he explained.
Familiar face: David is known for his role in Homeland (pictured)
“I just remember this driver looking around, then the driver stopping, then lots of flashing lights, obviously then I remember the police and being in the back of a police van, then seated in a cell.
“It was all just in and out of what seemed like a dream to me. I remember being in that cell and then going to the trial court in the morning.
“I did everything that voice told me to do that night. If that voice had told me to jump off the Thames Bridge, I would have done it. I would have done it.
When asked how long it had taken before for his illness to develop, he replied, “I think it had been happening for a while because I remember working out and not feeling well, so I would say at least two or three months.
“There was a slow progression of not sleeping, overthinking, trying to hide it, drinking, self-medicating. And I wasn’t well, but I thought I could handle it.
He added: “Fortunately for me my friends were there because if they weren’t there I think I would have been in big trouble.” I would have been in real trouble if this had continued. I’m not even sure I would have been here today, so I was very lucky.
David, also author of last year’s bestseller ‘Maybe I don’t belong here’, said he believed his parents’ divorce was when his mental health started to deteriorate slowly.
Struggles: David, also author of last year’s bestseller ‘Maybe I don’t belong here’, said he believed his parents’ divorce was when his mental health started to fail slowly deteriorate
He said he was sectioned twice, each for a period of five days, before embarking on a rapid recovery that saw him return to play after a hiatus of around six weeks.
David has previously explained how difficult it was for him to have to wait 30 years to find out about his psychosis and said learning about it “hit him hard”.
He said: ‘I learned everything [ psychosis] by making the documentary [‘Psychosis and Me’ on the BBC in 2019]and that’s why I think the documentary hit me so hard.
“It was the first time I really looked at that period of my life and understood it. Until then, I had no idea it was psychosis.
“I think if someone had told me that, I probably would have quit and asked for help, but there was no one I trusted or took me seriously enough to be able to do it.”
‘I had no idea it was psychosis’: David previously explained how difficult it was for him to wait 30 years to find out about his psychosis and said learning about it ‘hit him hard’ .