Charlie Brooker's neurosis makes coronavirus crisis easier to manage

Charlie Brooker says being "slightly neurotic" has made the coronavirus pandemic easier to deal with.

The \'Black Mirror\' creator has admitted he suffers with neurosis - which is a mental health condition characterised by irrational anxiety or obsession - and says the illness has actually helped him come to terms with the threat of the global health crisis, because he\'s always "thought that terrible things would happen" to him.

Discussing his life in lockdown amid the virus, he said: "Apart from the occasional abyss-gazing moment, I\'ve been fairly optimistic ... maybe optimistic is the wrong word, but I think because I have always been slightly neurotic and thought that terrible things would happen in my lifetime, when they do happen at least you are not dreading the unknown any more."

Throughout the pandemic, people have been referring to living in self-isolation as "like living through an episode of \'Black Mirror\'", and Charlie says the comparison is both flattering and "terrifying".

He added: "They said it about Brexit, they said it about Trump getting elected, they say it every time some new device gets launched.

"On one level it\'s nice. And on another level it\'s terrifying. If you have written something that is supposed to be a horrifying scenario, the frequency with which people are saying, \'Oh that\'s just like real life\', on a personal level it\'s hard to see where the pride stops and the terror begins."

On Thursday (14.05.20) night, Charlie, 49, will return to the BBC for a special one-off coronavirus-themed episode of his satire show \'Wipe\', which will mark his first since 2016.

And the star says he could return for another \'Wipe\' in the future, potentially based on the climate crisis.

He told The Times newspaper: "Yes, perhaps we will do one underwater in ten years\' time, me up to my neck in melted ice-cap water going, \'I told you!\' There\'s a depressing thought."

\'Antiviral Wipe\' will air on Thursday on BBC Two at 9pm.