A man who has been wetting the bed since he was five years old has seen his life transformed after taking the brave step to get help. John Junior, 34, admits he was too embarrassed to see his own GP about his wetting problem, which also occurred when he was out in public.
But he was finally able to tackle the problem on the Channel 4 YouTube show Time for a Check In. John sought help from Dr Sarah Hattam on the programme, hosted by Strictly Come Dancing star AJ Odudu. He says it was easier to speak with Dr Hattam because he didn't know her.
"It's a hard topic to talk about and men particularly don't want to talk about it," said John. "But I want to raise awareneness. I would be out and wet myself so I would stay in the house and in the pandemic I worked at home full-time which suited me. We don't actually know what caused it. The doctor said she would be worried if it had just started as an adult."
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On being out in public, he said: "I would go to the toilets to take my boxers off or go home. At school I used to get bullied horrifically.
"It was a knock-on effect because I'd self harm or binge eat. But since I saw the doctor in October it has been under control, and my girlfriend has helped me 100-per-cent."
Dr Hattam told him: "If this problem has being going on since you were young it's highly likely that there's any underlying cause for it. You might just have an overactive bladder. In other words, the bladder is sending faulty messages to the brain, telling your brain it's full when its not so you empty it."
John has been going to the gym and has also been using meditation and cold water therapy. He explained: "It's freezing cold in the bath and the water is ice cold and I'll sit in it for three or four minutes. It resets the nervous system."
Appearing on the show was the first time that John had seen a doctor about the issue. "I felt embarrassed," he explained. "I'd go out with friends and I'd feel isolated."
John says entering a loving new relationship has also helped the problem, which hasn't occurred for the past couple of months. "She is very accepting," he said. "She has given me confidence and helped me massively."
For years John has been a mental health campaigner who has teamed up with mental health charities including the Samaritans, MIND, and Papyrus, to educate, raises awareness, break stigma and to prevent suicide. In 2019, he created a movement called John and Charlie’s Journey with his cuddly toy duck called Charlie, who offers John comfort from past trauma and anxieties. Charlie gets dressed up in different outfits to suit the occasion and goes everywhere with John.
John has obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), a mental health condition where a person has unwanted thoughts and compulsive behaviours. He previously used bottled water to bathe after having intrusive thoughts, where unexpected images or thoughts pop into the head, and more recently he had intrusive thoughts about bathing in the Prime energy drink instead.
But he has managed to keep those thoughts at bay thanks to his girlfriend Elle. "I told my girlfriend and she said 'you'e going to be fine'" he said. "Over the past two or three months I've seen major changes. Now I'm talking about how I feel with my girlfriend."
John, who previously spoke out about being stopped from taking his own life by a powerful Hollyoaks storyline on the subject of suicide, is now doing working in script consultancy for mental health storylines for TV and radio. He recently had a meeting with Netflix about a new project.
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