Idris Elba Shares He’s In Therapy Due To Being ‘An Absolute Workaholic’: ‘I Have Some Unhealthy Habits That Have Really Formed’

October 2, 2023 by Ariel Whitely in Film with 0 Comments

Idris Elba Shares He’s In Therapy Due To Being ‘An Absolute Workaholic’: ‘I Have Some Unhealthy Habits That Have Really Formed’

Idris Elba recently shared that he hopes to break some of the “unhealthy habits” that come with his line of work.

In a new interview, British actor Idris Elba opened up and shared some of the problems he’s had to face while working in the entertainment industry. According to the 51-year-old, he’s been seeing a therapist for a year in an attempt to cut down his heavy workload.

The “Takers” star shared,

“I’ve been in therapy for about a year now. It’s a lot. In my therapy, I’ve been thinking a lot about changing, almost to the point of neuropaths [sic] being changed and shifting.”

He admitted,

“It’s not because I don’t like myself or anything like that, it’s just because I have some unhealthy habits that have really formed. And I work in an industry that I’m rewarded for those unhealthy habits.”

Idris Elba further explained that being “an absolute workaholic” prompted him to seek professional help.

“Nothing that’s too extreme is good, everything needs balance, but I’m rewarded massively to be a workaholic [compared] to someone that’s like ‘Eh, I’m not going to see my family for six months’ and I’m in there grinding and making a new family and leave them. Those are pathways that I had to be like, ‘I’ve got to adjust.’”

Idris Elba

The London native continued,

“So I’ve been thinking about this a lot and oddly enough a lot of our childhood is really at the root of it.”

Elba noted that his focus during the therapy sessions is to discover different activities that could relax him outside of work. Unfortunately for the “Luther” star, it’s been a struggle to find a moment for personal time for himself and his loved ones.

He expressed,

“The thing is, the things that make me relaxed end up being work. My studio in my house, I just love being in here. I’ll open that laptop and be like ‘I don’t know what to make today’ and it’ll come out like this or that. And I’m exhilarated by that and also so relaxed by it.”

Elba also mentioned that he finds working for 10 days straight on a film set “more relaxing” than sitting on the couch with his family.

“I could work 10 days on a film, underwater sequences holding my breath for six minutes, and come back and sit in [his studio] and [feel relaxed], more so than sitting on the sofa with the family — which is bad right? This is the part where I’ve got to normalize what makes me relaxed, it can’t be all work.”