Social media star Garron Noone brought a message of hope to Friday's Late Late Show, telling host Patrick Kielty about the mental health challenges he has faced in his own life and how he wants his recovery to inspire others.
"You posted a thing on New Year's Eve, which was looking back on where you were in your life a couple of years ago," said the host. "A lot of people maybe don't know this. Why was it important for you to get that out there?"
"Yeah, so, for the people that don't know - I have posted about it and spoken about it a couple of times - but I used to suffer from agoraphobia," said the Mayo man.
"I started having panic attacks when I was about 16. One of my friends had died and that sort of started them.
"They got worse over time, over a few years, and eventually got to the point where I couldn't leave the house without having a panic attack.
"So I spent about five years completely housebound, having panic attacks every day. [I] Couldn't go to the shops. I worked in a phone shop. I could go there - I'd have panic attacks at work - but I couldn't do anything else. No social life, no nothing, [I] pretty much stayed to myself.
"I kind of put it out there on New Year's Eve that, you know, I felt at that time... for many, many years I felt that my life would never go anywhere. I was never going to have a life that, you know, was going to be worth living. I felt really hopeless.
"And kind of out of nowhere, just by keeping with it, life has given me so much and I'm doing things now I never thought I'd be able to do. Like, you know, being on telly!"
"It's for that that I do it"
— The Late Late Show (@RTELateLateShow) January 24, 2025
We couldn’t love Garron Noone any more ❤️#latelate pic.twitter.com/e5ZtUJi6yf
"You're putting that out there to also encourage others. To tell them, you know, good stuff is possible," said Kielty.
"Absolutely," said Noone. "I think a lot of people... I remember when I was going through that... I think severe anxiety has become a lot more common, especially since the lockdowns and stuff like that.
"It's one of those things where I feel people don't really talk about it because the people that are suffering with it tend to be people who keep to themselves. And I found I couldn't find anybody to relate to.
"So I like to put it out there and kind of go, 'If you're having this experience, it is something you can get through, things can get better'.
"It takes time, but it's definitely gotten better for me, for sure."
Noone added: "There was somebody here tonight who actually said that - it was one of the nicest things that I've heard in a while - their nephew had seen the video and that he'd reached out for help. He was suffering with a similar thing. So it's for that that I do it. It's just absolutely amazing to hear that.
"Going through that wasn't for nothing, that now I can relate to people and they might find some understanding."
If you have been affected by issues raised in this article, please visit: www.rte.ie/helplines.
Click here for more television news.
.svg)