Mental Health Awareness Week: Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn posts heartfelt 'thank you' to fans

'No matter how much world leaders are telling you we aren't in this together, we are. You are not alone'

James Gunn at the Guardians of the Galaxy premiere (Getty)

Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn has shared a touching post on Facebook after the sequel's first week in cinemas proved to be a smash hit.

Guardians Vol. 2 took in over $200 million in its opening weekend, Variety reports, $140 million of which was grossed domestically in the US.

Gunn celebrated the news in the Facebook post where he thanked fans for their support.

"I would be lying if I said I don't get distracted by numbers," he wrote. "The first thing I do in the morning is roll over in bed and check my phone for the morning box office reports.

"But in the end, it's not what matters to me. I write this now to let you know, but also to remind myself. Because I'm human and I sometimes forget."

Gunn then opened up about how he had struggled with mental health in the past, and detailed how music, films and pop culture had helped him find comfort or distraction.

"When I was young I felt utterly alone, at times to the point of suicidal thoughts," he wrote. "I never felt like I belonged, had an incredibly difficult time connecting to other people and, despite having love around me, I had an impossible time experiencing it, or taking it in.

"But I found my respite in popular entertainment - Marvel comics, science fiction and horror films, the music of The Sex Pistols, The Replacements, and Queen. Suddenly I could see past the bland suburbs where I lived into a more magical world, a world more aligned with what I imagined.

"Sometimes these works were simply escapist fantasies that distracted me from the difficulties of my internal life. But other times, in the strongest moments - maybe through the words of Alice Cooper or Freddie Mercury, through Cronenberg films, or even in Chewbacca's growl, I experienced something deeper - the realization that I wasn't completely alone. Someone out there was as weird and strange and whacked out as I was."

"They are me. They are you. We are Groot," he said. "And no matter how much world leaders are telling you we aren't in this together, we are. You are not alone."

You can read Gunn's full post below:

This week marks Mental Health Awareness Week in the UK - this year the campaign looks at "why too few of us are thriving with good mental health".