Professor Green doubts that his anxiety will ever go away.
Professor Green
The 37-year-old rapper -real name Stephen Manderson - has been candid about his mental health struggles and feels that his troubles will never leave him.
The music star said: "There isn't really a 'before' and 'after'. Someone asked me how I got over my anxiety while being in the public eye – but I don't think I'm cured. I don't think my anxiety has ever gone away.
"And I actually think there have been points in my life where it's probably saved my life – fight or flight, you know? We have fight or flight and it's for survival, but you shouldn't just be surviving. You should be living and enjoying your life."
Pro Green also explained how the crippling stomach pain he suffered with during childhood was related to his mental health and how he was eventually diagnosed with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).
Speaking to Happiful magazine, he said: "I had an operation when I was six weeks old, so every time I said, 'Nan, I've got a belly ache', it would be straight to the doctor, and from the doctor to the hospital. They would do all these investigations, and would find nothing."
He continued: "A lot of people who experience psychological trauma end up with IBS, and a lot of people with IBS suffer psychological trauma, so it's a chicken and egg situation, and mine was a combination of both.
"My dad was in and out of my life, my mum was there more consistently, but she left home when I was a year old, and I was brought up by my grandmother. I was lucky. I know it doesn't sound like a lucky situation, but I genuinely was.
"I was a bright child, but my school attendance was quite poor, largely because of my tummy aches. And what I didn't realise was that the tummy aches were actually anxiety – it took me until my 20s to work that one out, and to draw any kind of link."
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