Norwich-based Youtube star JaackMaate has opened up about his health struggles.
Jack Dean, 30, revealed the first time he realised he had Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) was after seeing his grandad in hospital.
“My mum tells me that he’s in a bad way," he said.
“I get home that night, and this is definitely the trigger where it all started. I had a picture of him on my wall holding me as a baby.
“My lucky number is 13 so I kissed the photo 13 times.
“I’d never had any signs of OCD before, maybe there were signs that I didn’t pick up on.
“I went to sleep, and did it the next day, and the next day, and then he got better when I did this, and then it all just went crazy in my head.”
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As well as OCD, Jack also shared details of a testicular cancer scare when he was younger.
“I found a lump," he continued, speaking to Adam Smith and former Norwich City striker Leon McKenzie on the Original Penguin X Campaign Against Living Miserably Under The Surface podcast.
Norwich-based Youtuber Jack Dean, better known as JaackMaate (Image: Jack Dean)
“And before that I’d never really thought about the possibility of cancer, you’re a kid and playing football in the park is all you worry about.
“Next day I showed my nan and she said it didn’t look right so I went to the doctor.
“He said it was a cyst, but the trauma had already been done.”
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As a result of this, Jack has admitted to suffering from health anxiety.
“Every day about 15 to 20 times a day I go into a trance in my own head, where I just am 100pc certain that I’m going to die," he added.
“My brain will go: remember that lump? It could still be there.
“This is a bit hard for me to talk about, but I still can’t touch that area of my body.”
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