YouTube star Dan Howell has said that publicly discussing his mental health with fans inspired him to come out as gay in a video he posted online last year.
The internet star posted a video to his YouTube channel in June 2019 titled ‘Basically I’m Gay’ where he came out publicly in a 45-minute long video.
Dan, who is best known for being one half of Dan and Phil along with best pal Phil Lester, shared the struggles he faced confronting his sexuality and his identity, and he admits he spent countless years agonising over it.
Opening up in a new interview with Attitude magazine, Dan reveals that he finally found the confidence to come out after revealing his mental health battle via his channel.
He said: ‘One day I realised I was struggling with depression and I thought for a long time, “am I going to share this?” I didn’t want to be judged. Are people going to want to work with me? Are friends going to ice me out?’
The video received a hugely positive reaction from fans, with Dan revealing: ‘People liked it more, they were like, “this is funnier because you’re talking about real sh*t.”‘
Dan said that the reaction he received from opening up about his depression prompted him to finally discuss his sexuality.
‘I knew I was obviously not straight my whole life… [the video] was, for the first time, acknowledging this truth about myself and in, working out what my own story was, I had to confront all these aspects of my life that I hadn’t dealt with before,’ he explained.
‘I put it out there into the world in the most huge way possible… I was shocked by how nice the reception was.’
Dan’s coming out video was shared amid his hiatus from YouTube. He has been taking a break from the platform since 2018.
But, not only has Dan promised fans that more YouTube content is on its way, he’s also set to put his thoughts down on paper when it comes to his experiences and is releasing a new book about mental health.
The release, You Will Get Through This Night, will see Dan work with psychologists as he writes about understanding your mental health.
‘It’s deep, it’s dark, it’s personal, it’ll make you laugh, it’ll make you cry,’ he says of the release, adding: ‘And it actually has profound professional advice that might completely change your life.’
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