EastEnders fans heartbroken as Ben Mitchell takes desperate measures to cope with rape trauma

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EastEnders,19-07-2022,6523,Ben Mitchell (MAX BOWDEN);Kathy Beale (GILLIAN TAYLFORTH),***EMBARGOED TILL 12TH JULY 2022***, BBC, Jack Barnes/Kieron McCarron

EASTENDERS fans have been left heartbroken after Ben Mitchell took desperate measures to cope with his rape trauma.

Ben (Max Bowden) is failing to process and overcome the horror that fell upon him when Lewis Butler raped him, and his behaviour has become increasingly out of control.

Ben’s mum Kathy encouraged him to get professional help

Ben hasn’t been able to deal with what happened to him

Tonight’s episode saw Ben wake up on Jay’s sofa after accidentally punching mum Kathy in the face and being told to leave the previous night.

Ben tried to patch things up with his mum but Kathy (Gillian Taylforth) told her son he had to get the professional help he needed before she could support him again.

Having seen ex Callum head out with Whitney to cheer himself up, Ben was despondent before bumping into former schoolmate James.

The pair went for a drink and Ben knocked the alcohol back, before taking James to the Arches, where they shared a kiss.

But Ben struggled to relax and blamed his recent break up with Callum for why he couldn’t have sex with James.

But when James pulled out a packet of drugs he’d picked up in Peggy’s bar, he asked Ben if he would like to have some, saying: “This’ll make you feel more relaxed”.

Ben initially refused, saying: “I don’t really like that” and James asked if he was OK with him having some as it “kind of takes the edge off.”

Ben then saw a text from Kathy telling him to think about what she had said, before he looked up and said to James: “Takes the edge off you say?

“Like you said, first time for everything.”

As the soap’s famous duff duffs played, EastEnders fans immediately took to Twitter to comment on Ben’s downward spiral.

One wrote: “My heart actually broke for Ben at the end especially when he went into total ‘Self sabotage’ mode.”

Another added: “Heart still breaks for Ben ya know.. He makes it difficult but damn he’s a troubled soul.”

A third tweeted: “Don’t do it Ben please! He’s turning into his dad with the booze and drugs.”