Idris Elba's 'unhealthy habit' landed him in therapy for an entire year

Idris Elba has opened up about his struggles lately, as he reveals he’s been in therapy for a year to help himself break an “unhealthy habit.”

The Hollywood star has a number of accolades to his name including Fast and Furious and the lead role in TV drama Luther. However, it looks like his extremely busy schedule may have had a negative impact on his well-being.

Idris Elba reveals why he sought therapy

Opening up on the Changes with Annie Macmanus podcast, the 51-year-old revealed that he was attending therapy for his “unhealthy habits.”

In the episode, Elba shared how he’d been thinking a lot about “changing” in his therapy sessions.

“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 where I’m rewarded for those unhealthy habits.”

The movie star then went on to speak about how “nothing that’s extreme is good” speaking about himself being a workaholic.

“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,” he expressed.

“Those are pathways that I had to be like, ‘I’ve got to adjust.’” He then said oddly enough a lot of our childhood is really at the root of it,” before saying he’d like to find activities that help him unwind.

However, the Luther actor also revealed that he actually finds work relaxing, as he revealed: “I could work ten days on underwater sequences holding my breath for six minutes, come back and feel more relaxed than sitting on the sofa with the family which is bad, right?”

Inside the actor’s personal life

Although he’s a self-proclaimed “workaholic” the 51-year-old also has a lot going on in his personal life, as he tied the knot with his wife Sabrina Elba, in 2019.

The couple recently attended the Defender Rugby World Cup launch event in Paris, as they looked more loved up than ever.

Idris is also a proud dad to two children, daughter Isan and son Winston. He shares Isan with ex-wife Hanne ‘Kim’ Nørgaard and Winston with ex-girlfriend Naiyana Garth.

Speaking to PEOPLE in 2017, the star said his children motivate him through tough times and are ‘a part of him.’