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Tom Felton reveals he has been back to rehab: 'Saying that I'm not ok has really empowered me'

The Harry Potter star spoke honestly about his mental health

tom felton
Megan Bull
TV Writer
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Tom Felton has previously spoken about his time in rehab, particularly in his memoir Beyond the Wand: The Magic and Mayhem of Growing Up a Wizard, but in a new interview with The Guardian, he points to a more recent experience in a rehabilitation centre.

RELATED: Harry Potter star Alan Rickman's secret cancer battle while filming: revealed

After detailing his initial struggles with depression and subsequent rehab, he explained:

WATCH: See Tom Felton and Emma Watson reunite on the Harry Potter 20th Anniversary Special

"Life has not changed massively since that experience, but I now know there's a resource that I can lean on." 

He added: "I went back to another clinic, or rehabilitation centre, of my own volition recently. Jumping in the ocean twice a day and walking my dog also helps. If it gets as bad as it did back then, I know the steps I can take. Saying that I'm not OK has really empowered me."

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During the interview, Tom also revealed that his mental health had started to suffer ten years after the Harry Potter franchise had been completed. 

In an emotional moment, he said: "Ten years after Potter, I felt depressed and I was visited by a professional interventionist and then went to rehab."

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Tom has previously opened up about his time in rehab throughout his book Beyond The Wand

He continued: "I remember a sense of betrayal, confusion at why nobody had pulled me to one side and said: 'Here's a suggestion – stop going out drinking all the time.' Instead, it was affirmative action. In retrospect, I was lucky, because no one in that room wanted to be there. It was horrible – they purely did it because they loved me and knew something wasn't right."

While Tom has since spoken publicly about his experiences, the 35-year-old also explained why he had first found it so difficult to talk about his emotions. 

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Tom has revealed that spending time with his dog has helped his mental health

"From the outside it was perfect: I had a dog, a nice car and a house in LA," he said. 

"You trick yourself into thinking, well, these are the things I've been told make you happy, but they don't. The reason I didn't talk about how I felt before was down to a mixture of being British and male and being told that because everything was apparently going great, I shouldn't complain."

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