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“I went to see someone privately, a therapist. It made a massive difference,” he says. “Within weeks I started to feel better.”

Private care is, of course, a resort for the few, not the many. Recent figures showed a waiting list of up to 18 weeks for psychologi­cal therapy on the NHS in Scotland. Online hashtag-driven global visibility campaigns to encourage more openness in talking about mental health have achieved prominence. Yet they have been criticised by some who feel they shift the onus for care onto the individual, at a time when inquiries into standards of mental health care at NHS health boards such as Tayside are making national headlines.

Few, though, would argue that public attitudes towards mental illness have shifted in the last decade. And Kohli hopes his candour as an advocate for Dancing With The Black Dog plays a part in continuing that evolution.

“If we can make it more publicly known – symptoms, how it affects people – then people will know how to react better. I think I know now that when the triggers happen, I need to be more watchful.

“Talking is the first step but it isn’t everything. I think people understand more than they did. It’s always going to be the case that I can’t show you my broken legs or my smashed glasses because I’m broken in here.

“I think as a society we are slowly turning that tanker around.”

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 ??  ?? Kohli with screen wife Dawn Steele in River City
Kohli with screen wife Dawn Steele in River City

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