ITV News At Ten anchor Tom Bradby previously opened up about his battle with insomnia and compared it to being shot, claiming the condition is “10 times more frightening”.
The newsreader, 57, revealed he was “in a really bad crisis” with the sleep disorder, which left him “literally limping through” his presenting job.
When it was at its worst, the condition saw Tom spend nine days at the private Priory health clinic and take nearly five months off work.
ITV newsreader Tom Bradby on condition ‘more frightening’ than being shot
Speaking to The Sunday Times in 2019, Tom said: “One you get to the point where you’ve had no sleep for a number of nights – I mean, I got shot in Indonesia in 1999. This was 10 times more frightening.
“Suddenly, I was in a really bad crisis, a total mess. I was trying to do News At Ten and literally limping through it.”
He tried sleeping pills, but they didn’t help so he saw a psychiatrist.
Dr Stephen Pereira, who had previously treated Lloyds Bank CEO António Horta-Osório for the disorder, prescribed antidepressants for Tom and put him onto cognitive behavioural therapy.
Describing the measures he took to detach himself from his busy schedule, Tom said it was like “shutting down” a computer. He explained: “I put away my phone. I didn’t speak to anyone. I just walked the dogs and sat in the garden and cooked. And that was about the whole sum total of my day for three months.”
Related to death of his parents
He would get as much as 12 hours’ sleep a night during the early stages of his treatment. But when he returned to work, Tom started getting between eight and nine hours.
The insomnia was linked to a mental issue relating to the death of his parents. He said that it taught him it was a “more of a big deal” for him than he previously realised.
Tom, who once worked as a royal correspondent for ITN, said he spoke to Prince William and Prince Harry about his struggle with mental health. Harry told him “things get easier” once you “[admit] you’ve got a problem”.
Tom, a published novelist and screenwriter. He is married with three children. He hosts ITV election coverage today (July 5).
Read more: Tom Bradby’s tribute to ITV News colleague after her death
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