Supermodel Adut Akech shares private pain to help others
Supermodel Adut Akech is opening up about her mental health journey to help others.
Confidential
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Adelaide supermodel Adut Akech is sharing her personal battle with suicidal thoughts in a bid to save lives.
The South Sudanese-South Australian, who turned 20 on Christmas Day, has made an emotional post on Instagram, where she has more than 740,000 followers.
“I felt depressed to a point of wanting to end it, but for my family and myself I had to fight what I could say was the hardest battle of my life,” Adut writes.
Accompanied by two selfies and an inspirational quote – “2019: Thank you for the lessons. 2020: Let’s do this.” – the post begins with her describing the past 12 months as “the worst year of my life for me Adut the human and not Adut the model”.
Adut, who came here as a child refugee from Africa, said she started seeing a therapist but knew she needed to take time out from her career after suffering nightly panic attacks.
Named the world’s top model by the British Fashion Council and influential industry website models.com, Adut took two month’s leave “to be home (in Adelaide) with my family and deal with my mental health properly”.
“I share my journey because I know someone somewhere is going through the same thing. I want them to know they are not alone,” she writes.
The post comes a year after Adut told her Instagram followers she was suffering from depression and anxiety, saying they had saved her life because of “the love and support you gave me every single day”.
In August, she also spoke about her mental health struggles with SA Weekend during her career break prior to her comeback as the face of Melbourne Fashion Week, stressing the importance of therapy and her self-imposed exile.
“Now I’m back on my feet. I’m 100 per cent and I’m ready to go back to work,” she said.
The Advertiser reached out to Adut for comment yesterday through her manager, but she is on holiday.
BEYONDBLUE 1300 224 636,
MENTAL HEALTH TRIAGE SERVICE 131 465.