David Harewood says "negative" comments from trolls on social media "stay" with him.
David Harewood
The 53-year-old English actor has opened up about his own battle with mental health and recalled when he was working alongside an unnamed black actress who he advised to delete social media if she received abusive messages online because it can affect your mindset.
He said: "You've no idea what's it's like to open your Twitter feed and be called a c**n or a n***er - for days. I'm doing a job with a black actress and the first thing I said to her was, 'If you get any negative tweets, just delete the entire app. Just get rid of it. You can download it a few weeks later if you want.'
"People feel they have to stay in touch but within an hour of it not being on your phone, you forget about it. The tech companies are not being responsible for what's on their platforms so you have to take responsibility.
"Everyone's chemistry is different. I might get 1,000 positive tweets but it's the one that says, 'You're s**t' that stays with me.' "
The 'Supergirl' star was sectioned under the mental health act 30 years ago and forced to spend time on a monitored ward at the Whittington Hospital in Archway, North London, for his own safety after his behaviour became erratic and he started "hearing voices".
Speaking to The I Paper about the experience, he said: "I was hearing voices, as clear as a bell in my head. If that voice had told me to jump in the Thames, I'd have jumped in the Thames. The next thing I remember is waking up in a locked room surrounded by psychiatric patients."
And David went back to visit the hospital as part of his journey is his upcoming BBC Two self-titled documentary 'Psychosis and Me', and the star admitted it was an "emotional" moment for him.
He said: "We went back to the Whittington Hospital in Archway. I was very emotional. I thought during the filming I was going to have another breakdown. It was the toughest thing I ever had to do. I was doing everything the voices told me to. I was extremely lucky my friends made the effort to calm me."
The 'Homeland' star also insisted that he wants to "reduce the stigma" around psychosis by being open and honest about his own experiences.
He added: "I never felt ashamed of my experience. But I want to reduce the stigma around psychosis and to tell people that success is absolutely no barrier to having a mental health condition."
'David Harewood: Psychosis and Me' airs on May 16 2019 on BBC 2 at 9pm.
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