Bruno opens his heart about mental illness ordeal

Boxing champion Frank Bruno has described his descent into mental illness which threatened his life as he put himself through a punishing regime.

The former world heavyweight hero slipped into obsessive compulsive behaviour which led to him ignoring food, rarely sleeping and working out constantly while spending thousands of pounds on items he did not need, according to The Sun.

At the height of Bruno’s illness in September he was sectioned under Britain's Mental Health Act.

The former boxer told the newspaper: “I was terribly lonely and confused. In the heart of me I guess I knew things weren’t right, but there was no way I could admit that in my head.”

The death of boxing friend and mentor George Francis had hit Bruno, 41, hard during the period before his illness and he had also gone through a painful divorce from ex-wife Laura, the mother of his three children.

He later began spending thousands of pounds buying things like tents, caravans and lorries in pairs, sleeping a few hours a day and working out every day up to four hours a time.

During his period of treatment at Goodmayes Hospital in Ilford, east London the celebrity was diagnosed as a manic depressive with an obsessive disorder and was heavily sedated during his first few days.

But as one of Britain’s best loved sports personalities he received hundreds of goodwill messages from fans.

“I hated being in there – it was like prison, all your liberty taken away,” he said. “That was hard to accept, still is. I shudder to think of it and the idea of ever going back frightens me.”

He added: “I have still got a way to go. I still visit hospital for counselling – because I want to, not because I have to.”

Bruno says he now plans to rest and relax and “take one day at a time” but has two definite plans: to star in panto this year and go “fishing” for a good woman.