Russell Brand suffered from crippling loneliness at the height of his career - but having a family has "provided a solution" to him feeling alone.
Russell Brand
The 43-year-old comedian has opened up on how he suffered in the early 2000s feeling isolated and disconnected from society, despite being surrounded by people for his work on TV.
Russell felt so low when he was alone that he tried to overcome those emotions by self-medicating with drugs but the substances just made things worse.
The 'Forgetting Sarah Marshall star - who is now completely sober after being treated at a rehab clinic for heroin addiction and other drugs - had to learn how to be on his own in a more "peaceful" way.
Speaking in a video entitled 'Dealing With Loneliness' posted on his social media channels, he said: "Perhaps loneliness is one of those modern taboos, people feel a bit ashamed of feeling lonely. I used to be really lonely until quite late in life, actually. I suppose loneliness implies that you're not happy with your own company, my solution to that for a long time was to use drugs when I was alone, it was only a temporary solution. What I then done is I learned to be on my own in a more peaceful and harmonious way, just by trying it. It's the sort of thing you have to have practice with."
Russell admits getting involved with various groups helped him feel like he was part of a community but it is wife Laura and their two daughters who have truly transformed his life.
Although he is proud to identify with other sober people and his friends at his Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu club, it is being a husband and father that has provided the biggest boost to his self-worth.
He said: "You know if you do feel lonely don't feel ashamed of it but think about what positive steps you can take to belong to a community what is it that you're interested in? Those old ideas that seem a little dust-covered and rejected now - the church, groups around community and helping others. Those ideas, you know, they really work. Volunteering is a very good thing to do. Please don't feel embarrassed about being lonely. I was so lonely for so long, you know. Even when I was famous and stuff just lonely evenings and addictive behaviours indulged to try and placate my own loneliness. Now I am not lonely, everywhere I look, a daughter, a dog, a person. Family has provided a solution, maybe not everyone can be that fortunate but we can all reach out and join communities, places where we can be honest and find new ways to love ourselves, to accept ourselves and be OK with being alone.
"If you're own and it's your choice it can be OK, but human connection is so important, it's important to have a group identity. I belong to groups of people that don't drink and don't use drugs; I belong to a community around Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu; I belong to a family. I think a lot of identity politics, whether it's sort of ethno-nationalism, or identity politics of ethnicity or sexuality or gender or whatever, I sometimes wonder it's because we need tribe, we need a tribal identity we need to feel we belong in."
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