A Place in the Sun’s Leah Charles-King says that despite being desperate for help, having suffered manic episodes and thoughts of suicide, her bipolar disorder symptoms were dismissed.
“I went to my GP and they said it was basically all in my head,” Leah revealed during an exclusive interview with Express.co.uk, adding that doctors had “shunned” her multiple times.
“‘There’s no way you can be bipolar, you’re too articulate. You’re too self-aware’, they said. ‘You’re too aware of your feelings and emotions and the state that you’re in.’
“They told me: ‘You can’t be bipolar, because people with bipolar obviously are crazy – and you don’t appear to be crazy right now. “You’re just depressed – keep taking these antidepressants’,” she continued.
However, the presenter’s symptoms had drastically changed – and now, instead of showing signs of depression, she was behaving impulsively, binge drinking, barely sleeping and having mood swings.
READ NOW: Meghan ‘no longer part of Royal Family’ after Coronation snub
The intensity of her emotions was overwhelming her and she knew something wasn’t right.
“Before, I was depressed and I didn’t want to get out of bed, couldn’t get dressed. I couldn’t even brush my teeth, I couldn’t change my clothes, I couldn’t even make a meal,” she recalled.
In stark contrast, Leah was now scarcely eating or sleeping, and yet she felt energised and was going out constantly.
She recognised her symptoms from an Eastenders storyline featuring Stacey Slater, even down to the “all-night benders” and impulsive “online shopping sprees” with purchases stashed under the bed that she’d never even taken out of the packaging.
“I wasn’t somebody who ever was a binge drinker or went on benders or stayed out all night and left my partner to go across town at one o’clock in the morning to have a party on the other side of London – like, that’s not my vibe.
DON’T MISS…
Paul O’Grady’s coffin buried next to grave of ex-lover Brendan Murphy [LATEST]
Lee Mead in ‘private life vow’ after ex Denise Van Outen’s open letter [INSIGHT]
Paul O’Grady’s pal Julian Clary gives ‘entertaining’ eulogy at funeral [SPEECH]
“[Yet] suddenly I was doing all these things and felt compelled to, and no one else was keeping up with me,” she exclaimed.
She went back to her GP armed with the evidence and urged: “I know you’re saying that I’m depressed, and before that made sense, but now it doesn’t make sense because my symptoms aren’t the same. I’m doing all these things that are so out of my character.”
Despite several return visits to the doctor’s office, she says she was “shunned away” every time, and all the while her symptoms were “just getting worse and worse and worse”.
Things came to a head when she found herself on the brink of jumping out of an eighth-storey window to end her struggle.
“I was so impulsive within this mania and I was just so fed up of all the mental and physical pain and anguish that a mental illness like bipolar could bring that I’d had enough,” she recalled.
No one had known how desperate she felt, as just hours before, she’d been seemingly cheerily presenting a TV show.
Leah has now received the right kind of care and her mental health has improved massively, assisted by her big break on A Place in the Sun.
Yet she now wants to raise awareness of bipolar disorder, lamenting that on average it takes almost a decade for a sufferer to get the correct diagnosis.
“I mean, that’s pretty ridiculous for someone to be discriminated against because they’re self-aware or they can explain their feelings. “How insulting to anyone who has any form of mental illness,” she exclaimed.
Leah is an ambassador for Bipolar UK – the only national charity dedicated to supporting people affected by bipolar.
Bipolar UK provides a range of services, including information and advice, a network of support groups, an eCommunity, workplace training and telephone and email peer support. Bipolar UK also works in partnership with research organisations and campaigns for change to tackle critical issues. For more information, visit https://www.bipolaruk.org
In addition, if you or someone you know has been affected by this story, Samaritans (116 123) operates a 24-hour service available every day of the year. Alternatively, you can find more information on the Samaritans website here: https://www.samaritans.org/
Leah also has her own mental health-focused Instagram page at @illuminatemh.
For all the latest Entertainment News Click Here
For the latest news and updates, follow us on Google News.
