BRITAIN’S Mastermind has told of his own struggles with mental health issues in order to help a charity.

Clive Dunning, from Stockton, has spoken of the problems he suffered as young man to the Get Connected organisation which runs a confidential helpline for the under-25s.

Mr Dunning, 55, who won the BBC Mastermind quiz in April, approached the charity himself to express support for their work helping young people reach their potential.

Revealing for the first time he struggled with mental health issues from a young age he urged young men to reach out for help far earlier than he did.

He said: “The problems I suffered were related to OCD, something I suffered with from the age of four. It was left untended for at least 20 years. I only wish that I had been able to access help earlier, I’m sure I would have been Mastermind at a much younger age.

“From a young age, certainly through my teenage years, my life was blighted by mental health issues. I only wish a service like Get Connected had existed; as just knowing that someone cares or will listen is a tremendous comfort.

“I believe that there’s still a great stigma attached to mental health issues. I think that’s across the board, but I certainly believe in the case of young men it can be very, very difficult to admit to having a problem.

“Personally, coming from a working class, macho background it’s perhaps perceived as being soft but, believe you me, if you’ve got a problem you need to get help.”

“I got to the stage with my problems where I thought ‘is it worth living anymore?’ It is worth living and you can fulfil your dreams. I am living proof of that. I would like to see more young men come forward and use Get Connected before the situation becomes critical.”

Mr Dunning said mental health problems can be managed effectively with the right help.

He said: “I’ve used the OCD to my advantage; it was the obsessive tendencies that enabled me to learn the things I needed to learn for Mastermind, so it’s not all bad.”

“I think young people today are under tremendous pressure, there’s not many jobs around, opportunities are limited and then they are under incredible pressure from social media.”

Get Connected are the only UK providers of a free, confidential and multi-issue phone, SMS, email and web chat helpline service, specifically for children and young people under 25 and last year they helped over 180,000 people, and a fifth of whom had mental and emotional health problems.

The charity can be contacted for free the following ways: telephone 0808-808-4994 (1pm-11pm daily); text 80849; email: help@getconnected.org.uk; webchat: www.getconnected.org.uk (1pm-11pm daily); webHelp 24/7: www.getconnected.org.uk