Hollyoaks has given Darren Osborne someone to open up to about his depression.
Darren (Ashley Taylor Dawson) has been struggling in recent weeks, following tragic news about his best friend Luke Morgan's health and struggles in his own personal life.
In Tuesday's (March 17) first-look episode on E4, Mandy (Sarah Jayne Dunn) failed to rouse any enthusiasm from Darren about his big open-mic comedy night at The Hutch, as he told her he didn't feel up to going.
"Should I be worried about you?" Mandy candidly asked, with Darren covering: "No, no, I'm just poorly. I'll get myself through it."
When Mandy relayed her concerns about Darren to Luke (Gary Lucy), Cindy Cunningham (Stephanie Waring), Nancy Hayton (Jessica Fox) and Kyle Kelly (Adam Rickitt), her description of Darren's aloof behaviour struck a chord with Kyle.
"One minute he's full of beans and energy, the next minute it's like someone let the energy out of him," Mandy told the group.
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Kyle was still stinging from Nancy's apparent reluctance for the couple to get married in just 10 weeks, when he paid Darren a visit to check in on him.
Darren felt relieved to open up to someone, with Kyle quickly realising that Darren had the signs of depression — and shared that he had a friend in rehab who also battled it.
But as Kyle explained the feelings that his 'friend' was going through, it became obvious that Kyle was actually referring to himself.
"He couldn't enjoy himself, felt worthless, had dark thoughts," Kyle explained. "He'd isolate himself from his friends and family because they were just like these grey figures in the mist.
"He knew, he knew he should be able to connect with them! But he couldn't tell anyone about it. Because he didn't understand what it was himself. He kept it all inside until all he could see was the fog.
"All he had was the dark thoughts. And a life which used to be so, so full of colour was nothing more than a black-and-white movie on in the background."
When Darren insisted that he "meant nothing to anyone", Kyle assured him that he was no longer on his own because he'd opened up. The two agreed to keep sending each other supportive messages.
Tuesday's episode closed with the two sharing "strong" emojis as Darren started researching clinical depression, while Kyle wept on his own.
Earlier this week, Ashley Taylor Dawson explained how important Kyle's intervention will become to Darren's mental health moving forward.
"I think Kyle sort of saves Darren from himself at the right time," he explained. "Kyle recognises depression and the symptoms and how Darren is heaving.
"Darren, up until this point, has just been dealing with it on his own and has been trying to snap himself out of it.
"He's not actually doing very well, so when Kyle hits a nerve when mentioning the word 'depression' and explains to him why he's feeling like that, I think it helps Darren reflect on his reality.
"It makes him realise that he's finally got someone to confide in, and maybe there's a light at the end of the tunnel. So they become quite close because of that."
Hollyoaks airs Mondays through Fridays at 6.30pm on Channel 4, with first-look episodes airing on E4 at 7pm.
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