A doodle artist from Kent has opened up about a psychotic episode he had in a documentary film about his life which is being shown in cinemas and festivals.

Sam Cox, known as Mr Doodle, shot to fame after covering every inch of his Tenterden home with doodle art.

The movie, with the title The problem with Mr. Doodleexplores his obsession with doodling and his personal struggles.

He said that “people only see the positive parts of what I do because that’s what I share on social media, but this film goes into all the intricacies and the dark parts of my life”.

Mr Doodle’s popularity rose internationally after his videos on social media received millions of views.

He said: “I had a psychotic episode, the difficulties I had with Mr Doodle taking over.

“I lost my sense of reality. I didn’t know where I was or who I was.”

His mother Andrea Cox said in the documentary: “As a mother, the worst fear you have is losing a child.

“Losing him mentally was just as terrifying.

“I think Sam ended up in a nightmare somewhere in some country he had no control over.”

In 2020 Mr Doodle was the world’s fifth most successful artist under 40 at auction.

He said: “People might feel that drawing is the problem. But for me it was really the solution.

“It wasn’t the drawing that made me lose my mind. It was trying to separate work from any other part of my life.”

Mr Doodle painted a 16 meter (52 ft) tall doodle on the side of a multi-storey car park in Ashford, Kent, 2023.

He said of his personal struggles that they “could happen to anyone in any line of work, really”.

He added: “I feel like I was born to draw. But I’m human.

“I realized that I need Mr. Doodle as a part of my life.”