A former soldier spent 18 months believing he was a "walking corpse" after developing a rare psychological condition.

A motorbike accident left Warren McKinlay with severe injuries. However while his body healed in hospital, trauma to his brain meant the father of two believed he had been killed in the crash.

Despite being able to see and interact with people around him, he began to starve himself thinking food was useless because he believed he was no longer alive.

The Bosnia veteran's crash broke his pelvis and ruptured both lungs - but even as he recovered physically his family began to notice he was acting strangely and seemed distant.

Refusing to eat or talk to anyone, he was diagnosed with Cotard's Syndrome caused by damage to areas of the brain which recognises faces and processes emotion. There have been just a handful of recorded cases.

During his time at veterans rehabilitation centre Headley Court, he was eventually able to confide to a therapist that his head injury had left him sincerely believing he had already died and was not really there.

Warren told Good Morning Britain he had the hopeless feeling of "what's the point" when he was interacting with people around him in hospital but still believed he was dead.

"I knew [other patients] were there but they weren't physically there."

Years later Warren is happy to be back behind the wheel, recovering with the help of his family and Team Brit - an endurance racing team for injured veterans.

The veteran said he hopes that by sharing his story he will help others in similar situations: "I hope that my journey inspires other people with mental health issues".