Game of Thrones star Kit Harington reveals alcoholism and mental health battle, fans react

Fans flock to social media to express their thoughts over Kit Harington's ADHD diagnosis while he was admitted to rehab for alcoholism

English actor Kit Harington rose to fame as Jon Snow on HBO's Game of Thrones. Being famous can either make or break someone's life. In Harington's case, it was the latter. The 37-year-old star recently revealed his shocking mental health diagnosis and struggle with alcoholism during his early years of fame.

Kit Harington reveals he was diagnosed with ADHD while he was admitted to rehab for alcoholism (AP)

Kit Harington's alcoholism and mental health battles

In a recent episode of the wellness podcast Hidden 20%, Harington revealed he was made aware of his ADHD while being admitted to rehab for alcoholism. Before being admitted to an American rehab facility, Harington tried another rehabilitation program.

However, it wasn't until his second rehab program that he found out about his ADHD diagnosis. “I realized that my life was hinging on this. Luckily, it was the right place at the right time. I managed to forge a new life from there,” Harington said, per The Times.

Recalling his first rehab experience, the Eternals star said, “I entered rehab drunk, sobered up in there, and went, ‘F**k this, not you guys in a circle. No, thank you.’ And I left that pretty quick and said, ‘I'll try to deal with this by myself,’ which didn't work after about four years.”

‘A dangerous rabbit hole’

The Gunpowder star recalled hitting rock bottom between 2018 and 2019. During that period, he was starring in a play, True West. “It was during that play that I sort of collapsed and told people around me what was going on and finally took action,” Harington said.

Harington admitted that his condition worsened amid the intense popularity of Game of Thrones. Recalling his mental health battles, Harington revealed how he was “trying to project this image of utter sophistication and coolness about what I was doing but genuinely being sort of terrified about everything."

He also explained how he was affected mentally by what people said about him online. “That is a dangerous rabbit hole to fall down because you find all of the bad stuff that people are saying as well as the nice stuff,” Harington said.

Fans react to Kit Harington's shocking revelation

After the news about Kit Harington's mental health battles broke, fans rushed to Reddit to express their thoughts. One Redditor wrote, “Honestly, a lot of people do not know how ADHD presents itself and affects people. It can be debilitating to people and getting a diagnosis as an adult can change someone's life. A lot of mom's especially get diagnosed when their child is being assessed and they check off a lot of the same boxes.”

Another said on the platform, "I have ADHD. I was only diagnosed recently, in my 30s. And I respectfully have to say that I wholeheartedly disagree that we as a society are "aware" of ADHD."