Robbie Williams' depression led to scurvy diagnosis: 'I’d stopped eating and I wasn’t getting nutrients'

Earlier this year, popular British singer-songwriter Robbie Williams found himself in a tough spot. Struggling with his mental health, the British singer revealed he began using an appetite suppressant to lose weight—a decision that ultimately resulted in him developing scurvy, a condition caused by severe vitamin C deficiency. Or, as Robbie bluntly described it, “17th century pirate disease.”

“I’d stopped eating and I wasn’t getting nutrients. I was sad, I was anxious, I was depressed,” the 51-year-old told The Mirror in a recent interview.

Robbie, who has long been candid about his mental health journey, shared that this latest episode of depression hit him harder than he expected. “The year started with some ill mental health. Which I haven’t had for a very, very long time," he said, noting that it was a level of emotional struggle he hadn’t faced in years.

The Rock DJ singer —who shares four children, Theodora (12), Charlton (10), Colette (6), and Beau (5), with wife Ayda Field—explained that the depression came without a clear cause. “My wife would say, ‘If your depression could talk, what would it say?' It wasn’t saying, ‘It’s my mum, or dad, or your mum,’” he recalled. “It wasn’t saying, ‘It’s life, or tickets or the tour or the pressure or whatever.’ None of that. It just is. It’s just a pervasive feeling,” he added.

Though he's battled inner demons before, Robbie said this latest low felt especially disorienting—largely because he thought he was past this chapter of his life. “It’s been about ten years...I thought I was at the other end of the arc,” he admitted. “I thought this was the end of my story, and that I would just go walking into this marvellous wonderland. So for it to return was just confusing.”

The mental fog, he explained, was difficult to escape. “It can be overpowering," Robbie said. "There are elements of putting your head in the sand and putting your fingers in your ears and going, La La La."

Now, having made it through the rough patch, the Angels hitmaker—who recently explored his career highs and personal lows in the biopic-style musical Better Man—is prioritising balance, stability, and taking care of his mind.

“The most important thing is for yourself to be okay," he added. "And not causing chaos in mine or anybody else’s life, like I used to back in the 90s.”