Kit Harington reveals he felt suicidal during his addiction struggles: 'I went through periods of real depression'

Former Game of Thrones star Kit Harington is opening up about some of the darker moments over the past few years, including his addiction struggles. In an interview with the Sunday Times Magazine, Harington confessed that "things that have happened to me since Thrones ended, and that were happening during Thrones, were of a pretty traumatic nature and they did include alcohol."

"I went through periods of real depression where I wanted to do all sorts of things," the actor told the publication, admitting that he felt suicidal during his struggles. In 2019, he checked into a rehab facility in Connecticut, which helped steer him in the right direction. He's been sober ever since, save for the use of tobacco.

"You get to a place where you feel like you are a bad person, you feel like you are a shameful person. And you feel that there's no way out, that's just who you are. And getting sober is the process of going, 'No, I can change,'" he admitted. "One of my favorite things I learnt recently is that the expression 'a leopard doesn't change its spots' is completely false: that a leopard actually does change its spots. I just think that's the most beautiful thing. It really helped. That was something I kind of clung to; the idea that I could make this huge fundamental change in who I was and how I went about my life."

Harington, who last year welcomed a baby boy with his wife, former Game of Thrones costar Rose Leslie, also talked about the stress that his addictions caused in his marriage. "I kept them very, very quiet and I was incredibly secretive and incredibly locked up with them. So they came as quite a surprise to the people around me," he said. While he hopes that opening up will help other people in his shoes, he also doesn't want to be put on a pedestal for his struggles.

"I've been through something, it's my stuff," he said. "If it helps someone, that's good."

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