David Walliams talks of rehab stint

Comedian David Walliams has revealed that he previously spent time in rehab to treat his depression. David checked into the private health clinic, The Priory, before filming began for Little Britain – the show that made him a household name.

In his new book, Camp David, the comedian reveals that he first started getting ‘black moods’ at university but it became serious when he started filming the BBC comedy Cruise Of The Gods in 2002. 

In a diary entry, written when he was filming Cruise Of The Gods, David wrote: “Today the stone in my heart turned into a rock. News reached me that my  ex-girlfriend had a new boyfriend. The tears started.  I went outside. Suddenly the crying was uncontrollable. I stood out in the car park, bent double with grief. I crawled back to my dressing room and lay on the floor, sobbing”.

He added: “I had never experienced this level of pain or emotion before. It was terrifying. I was shaking. It was like I was having a nervous breakdown or going mad or both.”

In his autobiography, David writes: “Many people who suffer from depression confirm early morning is the worst time. There is no one to call. Your friends or family tell you, ‘Call me at any time’. But at 4am you don’t feel you can.
“It’s dark outside – there isn’t even the sound of the birds to keep you company. So I would lie there until the curtain edges grew light and the room took shape.

“It was not just the terrible elemental sadness I felt, but fear. Fear of death, fear of life, fear of love, fear of everything.”

A matter of weeks before Little Britain’s first series went into production, he told comedy partner Matt Lucas that his psychiatrist had suggested he go to The Priory in south-west London.

The comedian reveals in the book that he left The  Priory after a week with ‘a paper bag full of anti-depressants and sleeping pills’, and then went to live with his friend Rob Brydon.