Niall Breslin - Carrying the hopes of a nation

Tassotti · September 19, 2016, 4:33pm

he’'s a good looking lad, I 'd say there is a lot of jealousy behind it, this place is full of repulsive look roasters

Fagan_ODowd · September 19, 2016, 4:34pm

Good old fashioned Irish begrudgery

Spidey · September 24, 2016, 2:54pm

More tin roofing about anxiety attacks 15 years ago

KinvarasPassion · September 24, 2016, 3:11pm

Give me 500 euro for an 80 minute speech and i’ll cry like teething toddler too.

Tassotti · September 24, 2016, 3:17pm

Bressie is unreal for what he has done for the depressed Irish male

TreatyStones · September 24, 2016, 3:22pm

TreatyStones:

Voice star Bressie has revealed being on the hit RTE show left him with crippling anxiety.

The 32-year-old singer said the fame that came with the success of the first series left him having palpitations.

He spoke out on RTE Radio One’s John Murray Show with hopes of encouraging others in the same situation to get help.

Bressie said: “It was relatively recently and I’m quite open about it. It’s something that for too long has been stigmatised in this country. People assume anxiety and stress are the same.

“But anxiety is all-consuming – it takes over your life and it doesn’t pick its victims. Often people will say, ‘But
everything is going well,’ but that doesn’t make a difference really.”

Bressie added he first felt the symptoms when he became the hottest new property in Ireland as a coach on The Voice.

He said: “For me it was when the show started I think. I started realising I had lost a bit of my anonymity and it just
came on.

“With anxiety there are massive issues with sleeping. You have palpitations in situations especially if you are doing live television.

“And I said to myself, ‘That’s the kind of person I am, I’ve got to learn to control it’.”

Bressie said it was getting back into physical exercise that helped him manage his condition as he had missed it since he gave up his rugby playing to make a go of his first band The Blizzards.

He said: “Other people don’t learn to control it and they take up the wrong way and go down the wrong route with it.

“But that was one of the main reasons I got into the triathlon training. I felt that was a really good thing because I missed that physical challenge I had when I played rugby.

“That’s a big void in my life so I started doing triathlons and it really helped. But then again once I came out and talked about it I started realising that everybody I know is going through this but they are hiding it.

“And I think it is ridiculous that you have to hide something like this.”

Bressie said that although he didn’t take medication, he had been considering it.

And even though he didn’t experience full on panic attacks he could never settle and relax.

He explained: “I went to the point where I was considering it but I figured I had to kind of manage it.

“ I didn’t get full on panic attacks – whereas I have friends who wouldn’t be able to breathe.

“I wouldn’t get that, I would just get palpitations.

“And I could never sit down and turn on the TV and watch it. I could never relax.

“People who would have known me before would realise that was not me at all.”

Bump

Tassotti · September 24, 2016, 3:46pm

so much courage

Fagan_ODowd · September 24, 2016, 3:47pm

+1 mate. Made it socially acceptable to talk about mental health issues in young men. If only one of them went to get help Bressie has done a great job.

alf_stewart · September 24, 2016, 4:48pm

Has anybody tweeted that to the man himself? It would be good to give him a chance to explain what changed. He must have subconsciously blocked out the lifetime of depression he suffered until he realised he could make a few Bob out of remembering it.

Juhniallio · September 24, 2016, 11:57pm

He’s the master.

flattythehurdler · September 25, 2016, 12:41am

Bator

Mac · September 25, 2016, 6:19am

Fuck sake Juhy

Juhniallio · September 25, 2016, 7:54am

Some things are so important they need to be said twice @Mac.

Tassotti · September 25, 2016, 12:23pm

Bressie is the voice of a lost generation of Irish men

alf_stewart · September 25, 2016, 1:49pm

You seem fairly lost alright pal. Keep searching though. Just because fat prozzies, nutri bullets and the Catholic Church haven’t filled that lonely pathetic void in your life it doesn’t mean the answer isn’t out there somewhere.

Bandage · September 29, 2016, 9:55pm

The comments under this article on the Irish Times Facebook page are funny as fuck.

anon67715551 · September 29, 2016, 11:44pm

I might have a new client for him. This morning on Today with Sean O’Rourke (RTE 1) there was a young traffler from outside Tullamore who reckoned he was gay and suffering from depression. He’s been shunned by his own, both male and female but somehow I feel that Bressie could assist here.
On the plus side, he’s Caucasian.

anon61956325 · October 2, 2016, 1:59am

Look it was just one of those accidental things that happen at the urinal, sometimes you happen to look sideways and you see another guy’s sword… No big deal really. Except now I know why Bressie is depressed You can chalk it down as a celeb spot too if you like.

Bandage · October 3, 2016, 1:29pm

Conor seems to be seething with Joe again and had a to and fro with a load of journalists on twitter. Joe blamed Mayo management for their defeat because of the decision to change goalkeeper. He mentioned Hennelly having a nightmare and costing them 1-3 and a black card for Keegan. Conor thinks it’s disgraceful.

Little_Lord_Fauntleroy · October 3, 2016, 1:37pm

in fairness to Conor, if I lost a tennis match which is my hobby id be fairly pissed off if it made the Sindo