'MY DOGS SAVED MY LIFE'

PETS AS THERAPY CHARITY AMBASSADOR JAMES MIDDLETON EXPLAINS HOW INSTRUMENTAL HIS DOGS WERE IN HELPING HIM THROUGH MENTAL HEALTH STRUGGLES

- REBECCA RUSSELL

With a successful career, picturesque home in the Berkshire countryside and close royal connections, James Middleton has admitted in the past that he’s led “a richly blessed and privileged life”.

But things have not always been easy for the 36-year-old entrepreneur, who grew up in a happy household with older sisters Kate, the Princess of Wales, and Pippa and their parents Carole and Michael. Opening up about his mental health struggles, he reveals he has faced a dark and difficult battle with depression that left him unable to communicate even with his family.

“During the day I’d drag myself up and go to work, then just stare with glazed eyes at my computer screen, willing the hours to tick by so I could drive home again,” he previously wrote. “I couldn’t respond to the simplest message so I didn’t open my emails. I couldn’t communicate, even with those I loved best – my family and close friends. Their anxious texts grew more insistent by the day, yet they went unanswered as I sank progressively deeper into a morass of despair.”

Coping with what he called “a cancer of the mind”, James tells OK ! he has his beloved dogs to thank for his recovery and even saving his life. Speaking ahead of the Goodwood event for dogs and owners, which took place earlier this month, the Pets As Therapy charity ambassador says, “It’s still challenging to talk about it, but actually the role that my dogs played was fundamental in my recovery and my rehabilitation.