Actor Joe Tracini has always experienced discomfort within himself.

As the son of comedian Joe Pasquale, Joe Tracini experienced self-consciousness and was prone to depressive thoughts during his upbringing in Great Yarmouth.

“I made my first joke on stage at 18 months old at one of my dad’s gigs,” he recalls. “But a lot of my confidence growing up was a front.”

The only way he could engage with his peers was through his skill for magic tricks. He was relentlessly bullied at school.

“I was like a little old man. I used to speak like a grown-up. I wore three-piece suits and couldn’t converse with other children,” the 37-year-old says.

He missed out on the role of Harry Potter, which was given to Daniel Radcliffe.

At the age of 11, he changed his surname from Pasquale to Tracini, after narrowly missing out on the role of Harry Potter to Daniel Radcliffe.

“I did six auditions for it. Although it was a significant rejection, I believe I would not have been able to handle the pressure of making those films. The casting director sent me a letter which I’ve still got.

“I changed my name because I wanted to do things off my own back; I didn’t want to have something to live up to. “I love my dad very much and we have a good relationship but I wanted people to like me for me,” he says.

Tracini went to musical theatre college and secured various acting and TV presenting roles, including as a series regular on the soap Hollyoaks.

But he turned to drink, drugs and self-harm as a way to quieten the negative voice in his head that he calls “Mick”.

Tracini was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder (BPD) a decade ago, which came as a giant relief.

The diagnosis prompted him to kick his addictions. He has been sober for 10 years, after several trips to rehab.

“I felt less guilty because I knew the drink and drugs were a symptom of my BPD. I thought Mick would go away but the medication made me feel numb and changed my personality so I came off it,” he says.

During the pandemic, he gained tens of thousands of social media followers by posting comedy dance routines, dressed in a leotard.

He also went viral for a video about his BPD, describing symptoms including mood swings, impulsiveness, paranoia, fear of abandonment and chronic feelings of emptiness.

But around the same time, he stopped going to auditions and working because his mental health was awful.

“I lost so many months where I felt paralysed by fear. I started writing a one-man show called 10 Things I Hate About Me, all about my life.

“But during that period, I was so low, and I was having so many panic attacks that I thought I’d never be able to perform it,” he says.

The turning point came last summer, when he decided to explore the possibility that he might have ADHD.

Tracini looked through his list of followers on social media and found an ADHD psychiatrist who was able to diagnose him and prescribe medication.

“The drugs don’t help with my BPD, but I feel like I can start again.” It has cleared my brain and I can function again. I can work again and I can write.

“This time last year I thought, ‘This might be it. This might be who I am for the rest of my life.’

“I had no idea how life-changing the diagnosis would be – people don’t take ADHD seriously enough – finding out has saved my life.”

In the summer, Tracini performed his one-man show to rave reviews at the Edinburgh Fringe. He is now taking it on his first-ever tour, starting at the Norwich Theatre Playhouse, just up the road from where he grew up.

Tracini spent so many years obsessing over the show that he felt he owed it to himself to perform it.

“Even if it had gone badly, I was doing myself a kindness to put it to rest and gain some closure,” he says.

“It encompasses many years of my life and includes numerous things that I clung to which ultimately harmed me.” It’s my past but it doesn’t have to be a part of me any more.”

Mick will always be there, he believes, but he has learnt to live with the voice inside his head.

“It has been like getting used to a flatmate. I hope he buggers off one day but we’re doing OK.

“I was always living in the past and worrying about things I’d done, but now I’m looking to the future.” I’m looking at weeks and months ahead, which is something Mick can’t argue with.”

If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this story, information and support can be found at the BBC’s Action Line.

Families on a council estate claim that a new “social supermarket” will assist them in meeting their financial needs.

The shop at North Bransholme Community Centre sells surplus food, with packs of fruit, vegetables and bread costing as little as 20p a time.

Anyone living in the area, receiving means-tested benefits, and applying for a free membership can use it.

On its opening day this month, hundreds of people visited the store to buy food at about a third of the cost charged by most supermarkets, with bosses estimating it could save a family more than £200 a month.

Kirsty Armstrong, a mother of two, said the store took the pressure off the worry of doing a weekly food shop.

“Even though you work, it can still be really hard just to buy the simplest of things, like fruit.

“I’ve spent about £6 and I’ve got bread and fruit, and I am thinking about stuff in my basket that can be kept frozen.”

James Trott, 67, was one of the first customers through the doors and plans to use the shop regularly.

“It helps me as a pensioner because I have to pay for gas, electricity, water, rent, and council tax, which makes it really hard for everyone on the estate who is receiving benefits,” he said

The prices at other shops would have been double.

“I’ve just got a tin of beans for 60p; they would have been double in another shop.”

The Community Shop Group, a social enterprise, has opened the store as the 15th of its kind across the UK.

Food industry partners donate products from surplus stock, which results from overstocking or seasonal packaging. All are still in use to date.

Gary Stott, the executive chairman, said as well as supporting people in the Bransholme area, it was helping to tackle food waste.

“Surplus food does occur and we can take that in and we can relabel it and get that on sale,” Mr Stott said.

“We have a retail store that offers 600 product lines, with the average basket spend being about 30% of the retail price, allowing families to save £212 a month on their shopping bills.”

“Even though we are a small convenience store, 30% of our basket is fruit and vegetables. That means families can come and make really healthy choices at an affordable price.”

The group said profits from the shop would be reinvested in a community hub, which aims to support members in learning new skills.

Meanwhile, a community kitchen and cafe sells breakfasts and lunches for £1.50, along with free children’s meals all year round.

Carol Redfern and her mum were among those enjoying refreshments.

She said, “To be able to come here and get quality food cheaper, it means a lot.

“My mum lives with me; she is disabled, so we are not on a lot of money.

“You can come here to eat, and it’s brilliant that the kids can eat for free.”

Figures from Trussell, the anti-poverty charity, suggest more than 700,000 people in Yorkshire and Humber have faced hunger in the past year due to a lack of money, with one in 10 people in the region living in households classified as “food insecure.”

David Daniels, who is 73 and receives disability benefits, described the community store as “a must in this day and age”.

“I think financially it will help many people,” he said. “It takes away from food banks as well.

“People can pay reduced prices and you can get quality goods.”

Myanmar is voting in an election that has been widely dismissed as a sham, with major political parties disbanded, many of their leaders jailed and more than half the population expected to vote because of the country’s ongoing civil war.

The military government is holding a phased vote nearly five years after seizing power in a coup, which sparked widespread protests and civil war.

Observers say the junta, backed by China, is trying to legitimise and consolidate its power as it looks for a way out of the devastating impasse.

A new law that carries severe penalties, including the death penalty, has charged more than 200 people with disrupting or protesting voting.

Voting commenced on Sunday, during which several areas of the country reported explosions and air strikes.

Three people were taken to hospital after a rocket hit an uninhabited house in the Mandalay region early Sunday, the region’s chief minister confirmed to the BBC. The condition of one of these individuals is critical.

Separately, more than ten houses were damaged in Myawaddy township near the border with Thailand after a series of explosions late Saturday night.

A local resident informed the BBC that the attack resulted in the death of a child and the emergency hospitalisation of three others.

Further reports of casualties have emerged following other explosions.

Voters have told the BBC about the elections.

Voters have told the BBC that the election feels more “disciplined and organised” than before.

“The voting experience has changed a lot,” said Ma Su Zarchi, who lives in the Mandalay region.

“I was scared before voting. Now that I have voted, I feel relieved. I have cast my vote as someone who has tried his best for the country.”

First-time voter Ee Pyay Phyo Maung, 22, told the BBC she was casting her vote because she believed it was “the responsibility of every citizen” to vote.

She said, “My hope is for the lower class – right now, the prices of commodities are skyrocketing, and I want to support someone who can bring it down for the people who are struggling the most.”

“I want a president who provides equally for all people.”

The Burmese junta has rejected criticisms of the elections and says its goal is “withdrawal.” The junta aims to establish a multi-party democratic system in the country.

After casting his vote at a heavily guarded polling station in the capital, junta chief Min Aung Hlaing told the BBC the election would be free and fair.

“I am the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, a civil servant. I can’t just say I want to be president,” he said, stressing that there are three phases of the election.

Earlier this week, he warned that those who refuse to vote are rejecting “progress toward democracy.”.

Film director Mike Tee, actor Kyaw Win Htut and comedian Ohn Ding were among the prominent figures convicted under a law against disrupting elections that was implemented in July.

They were each sentenced to seven years in prison after criticising a film promoting the elections, state media reported.

UN Special Rapporteur Tom Andrews on Sunday called on the international community to reject the election, saying it could lead to “nothing legitimate”.

He said, “An election organised by a junta that is bombing civilians, jailing political leaders, and criminalising all forms of dissent is not an election—it is a theatre of the absurd, conducted at gunpoint.”

The army is fighting on multiple fronts, against armed resistance groups opposing the coup as well as ethnic armies, which have their militias. It lost control of large parts of the country in a series of setbacks but regained control of the region this year after sustained air strikes with support from China and Russia.

The civil war took thousands of lives, displaced millions, destroyed the economy, and created a humanitarian vacuum. The devastating earthquake in March and cuts in international funding have made the situation worse.

All this, and the fact that large parts of the country are still under opposition control, poses a huge logistical challenge to holding elections.

Voting is scheduled to take place in three phases next month in 265 of the country’s 330 townships, with the rest considered highly volatile. The results are expected by the end of January.

No voting is expected in half of the country. Even in townships where voting is taking place, not all constituencies will vote, making it difficult to predict the likely turnout.

Six parties, including the army-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party, are fielding candidates across the country, while the other 51 parties and independent candidates will contest only at the state or regional level.

About 40 parties have been banned, including Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy, which won landslide victories in 2015 and 2020. Charges widely believed to be politically motivated have jailed Suu Kyi and several key party leaders, while others remain in exile.

“By dividing voting into phases, authorities can adjust strategies if the results in the first phase do not suit them,” Htin Kyaw Aye, a spokesman for the election-monitoring group Spring Sprouts, told the Myanmar Now news agency.

Ral Uk Thang, a resident of western Chin State, believes that citizens do not want elections.

“The military does not know how to rule our country. They only work for the benefit of their high-ranking leaders.”

“When Aung San Suu Kyi’s political party was in power, we experienced a little bit of democracy.” But now we just cry and shed tears,” the 80-year-old told the BBC.

Western governments, including the United Kingdom and the European Parliament, have dismissed the vote as a sham, while regional bloc ASEAN has called for political dialogue before any elections.