Hannah Hardman, sister of Chris “Lil’ Chris” Hardman, went on This Morning today and spoke about the singer’s suicide last month.
She looked visibly upset as she spoke about Chris – and highlighted the shocking statistics around depression and suicide in young men.
“You can never prepare yourself for losing someone. It makes it harder that he wasn’t someone just loved by us – he seemed to be loved by a lot of people,” Hannah told Phillip Schofield.
“When he went from a teenager to a young adult, that was when the struggle [with depression] started. He was always very open about it.
“I believe that people who suffer from depression, anxiety, paranoia – it’s something inside them.”
Hannah then spoke about how Chris, who she called her best friend as well as her brother, suffered with anxiety and paranoia as well as depression.
“He would get himself really worried and in loops about things. He would sit and talk and talk and talk.
“You’d always think you’d resolve it, but I think deep, deep down - you couldn’t. Inside his brain was still going a hundred miles an hour.”
Phillip then highlighted the fact that 12.5 per cent of men in the UK have been diagnosed with a mental health disorder.
And of the 5,981 suicides, 4,590 of these were by young men under 35.
“Chris wanted to educate people,” Hannah continued.
“There’s such a stigma and a taboo about mental health and that needs to stop.
“Chris wanted people to be educated that having a mental health disorder was the same as having cancer, or a broken leg. Just because you can’t see it doesn’t mean it’s not there.”
The Samaritans can be contacted by phone on 08457 909090, email jo@samaritans.org, or you can find the details of your local branch at www.samaritans.org.