David Harewood reveals harrowing details of the night he was sectioned

‘If that voice told me to jump off the Thames bridge, I would have done it’: David Harewood reveals harrowing details of the night he was sectioned amid his battle with psychosis

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David Harewood has revealed harrowing details of the night he was sectioned due to his mental health and battle with psychosis. 

In a new podcast interview, the star of Supergirl and Homeland said he was hearing voices and would have jumped off a bridge it he was told to.

‘I did everything that voice told me to do that night. Had that voice that told me to jump off the Thames bridge, I would have done it. I would have done it,’ he said on The Diary of a CEO podcast. 

‘If that voice told me to jump off the Thames bridge, I would have done it’: David Harewood has revealed harrowing details of the night he was sectioned amid his battle with psychosis

According to the NHS, psychosis is ‘when people lose some contact with reality. This might involve seeing or hearing things that other people cannot see or hear (hallucinations) and believing things that are not actually true (delusions)’.

Recalling the night he was sectioned for his own protection, the actor and author said he heard voices and thought he even heard Martin Luther King Jr.’s voice. 

He said the voice told him to go to a shop in Camden, that was closed, before a cab driver alerted the police.  

‘I did everything that voice told me to do that night. Had that voice that told me to jump off the Thames bridge, I would have done it. I would have done it,’ he said on The Diary of a CEO podcast

What is psychosis? 

– According to the NHS, Psychosis is ‘when people lose some contact with reality. This might involve seeing or hearing things that other people cannot see or hear (hallucinations) and believing things that are not actually true (delusions)’

–  Schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and severe depression can lead to psychosis (but not in all cases)

– Treatment includes antipsychotic medicine and therapy 

‘You hear voices and one of the aspects of psychosis, which is what I suffered from, is that you can hear voices and have illusion and delusions, that seem incredibly real to you,’ he explained. 

‘I was lying in bed and I just heard this voice in my head saying, ”wake up”, so I sat up in bed, looking around the room thinking, ”where’s that come from?”

Speaking about Martin Luther King, he added: ‘He said, ”when you played me as a child, I entered your heart.” And he said, ”even though I’m speaking to you from beyond the grave, I need you and two or three other people in in the world to activate something and close the gap between good and evil.” And he said ”so you’re going to sacrifice yourself tonight and you’re going to be an angel.”

David added: ‘He [the voice] went on to say, ”look, I’m gonna tell you who I am right now because you’re going to be really scared but you have to go to Camden, you have to walk into the store. Don’t be surprised if it’s open, it’s three o’clock in the morning. Don’t be surprised, whatever you do, do not turn around…” I got up, got my clothes on and walked all the way to Camden obviously the shop was closed.’

He added that a cab driver alerted authorities. 

‘I was exhausted and I thought I’ve got to go home and flagged a cab down and I didn’t have any money,’ he explained.

Familiar face: David is known for his role on Homeland (pictured)

‘I just remember this driver looking around and then the driver pulling over and then lots of flashing lights, obviously then I remember the police and being in the back of a police wagon and then sitting in a cell.

‘All this was just in and out of what seemed like a dream for me. I remember being in this cell and then going to the Magistrates Court in the morning.

‘I did everything that voice told me to do that night. Had that voice that told me to jump off the Thames bridge, I would have done it. I would have done it.’

Asked how long it took before for his illness to develop, he said: ‘I think it was happening for a while because I remember working and not feeling great, so I’d say at least two or three months.

‘There was a slow progression of not sleeping, overthinking, trying to hide that, drinking, to sort of self medicate. And I wasn’t well, but I thought I could handle it.’

He added: ‘Luckily for me, my friends had been there, because if they weren’t there, I think I would have been in real trouble. I would have been in real trouble if that would have continued. I’m not even sure I would have been here today, so I was very lucky.

David, also the author of last year’s best-selling book ‘Maybe I Don’t Belong Here’, said he thought his parent’s divorce was the point at which his mental health started to slowly deteriorate.

Struggles: David, also the author of last year’s best-selling book ‘Maybe I Don’t Belong Here’, said he thought his parent’s divorce was the point at which his mental health started to slowly deteriorate

He said he was sectioned twice, each for a five-day period, before embarking on a rapid recovery which saw he able to return to acting after a break of around six weeks.

David previously detailed how difficult it was for him to have to wait 30 years to find out about his psychosis and said learning about it ‘hit him hard’.

He said: ‘I learned all that [ psychosis] through making the documentary [‘Psychosis and Me’ on the BBC in 2019], and that’s why I think the documentary hit me so hard.

‘It was the first time I really looked at that period of my life and gained some understanding of it. Until then, I had no idea that it was psychosis.

‘I think, had somebody said that to me, I probably would have stopped smoking and sought some kind of help, but there was nobody that I either trusted or who took me seriously enough to be able to do that.’

‘I had no idea it was psychosis’: David previously detailed how difficult it was for him to have to wait 30 years to find out about his psychosis and said learning about it ‘hit him hard’

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