Al Porter has revealed that over one thousand people have contacted him since his appearance on last week’s Cutting Edge with Brendan O’Connor.
The 23-year-old comedian bravely spoke out for the first time about his personal mental health struggle. Al has suffered with depression, and has been taking anti-depressants.
The comedian has now revealed in his article for the Irish Daily Star that since last week’s tv appearance he’s received thousands of letters, emails, social media messages and phone calls from people praising his honesty and telling him about their own battles.
“The reaction to what should be a very normal admission proves that there is an elephant in the room. A conversation has been started that many wanted to have.
“Since last Wednesday over 1,000 people have been in touch with me. I’ve received letters, phone calls, emails and hundreds of Facebook messages. I’m blown away.
“Interestingly, while a lot of these were very kindly offering a message of support, many hundreds more were deeply personal messages about the authors themselves.
“Hundreds of people have trusted me with their stories, confiding in me.
“While it’s nice to know you’re not alone it’s shocking how many people hide their own exhausting emotional and mental issues from their family and friends,” he wrote.
Although most messages were positive, the Tallaght native did receive some negative feedback. There were some hateful accusations that his interview was all just a publicity stunt, but Al quickly shut this thought down.
“Accusations that I would use my own personal issues as a PR stunt are particularly unfair…I was invited on a show to speak honestly about my life and in the interest of authenticity, I did. It certainly doesn’t define me,” he wrote.
