Frankie Bridge spoke openly about her past experience with depression and the treatments she used. She shared her views after Roman Kemp revealed he is adjusting to life without medication.
Frankie Bridge has reflected on being hospitalised when she was on anti-depressants and battling mental health issues.
The 35-year-old singer has been something of an open book about her experience with depression – most prominently writing about it in her book, OPEN: Why asking for help can save your life. On Friday’s edition of Loose Women, the former The Saturdays singer was on the panel to discuss a new statement from radio host Roman Kemp who revealed he had stopped taking anti-depressants after 16 years.
Roman had explained that he was getting to grips with his new experience of emotions, and noted that he wasn’t warning fans to take or stop taking medication. Frankie explained that she hit rock bottom when she was on medication herself.
Drawing on her own experience, the What About Us singer explained: “I started taking antidepressants when I was about 18 and I still ended up in hospital when I was about 21 with really bad depression and anxiety. It’s one of those things for me where they work to a degree in that I’m able to get out of bed in the morning and I’m able to come and work and be present with my friends and family.”
Rooman Kemp has revealed his is adjusting to life without antidepressants (
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Frankie has been open about her past struggles (
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She explained that she has “Treatment-resistant depression so actually the antidepressants don’t really work.” She continued: “I’ve had like tests done and my body isn’t able to create seratonin or to keep it. So even if I’m taking antidepressants it’s almost counter productive. But because I’ve been on them for so long for now the fear of coming off them is really scary because I’m like would I end up back in hospital again?”
Frankie went on: “I’ve got children now, a husband. I’ve tried a lot of different ones and I’ve tried different combinations of different antidepressants and things like that. So now I’m constantly trying to think of different things to try so I’ve recently tried ketamine treatment which has been really effective for me but it’s really expensive, it’s not available for everyone.”
Frankie said: “That was a really big deal for me, that was really scary for me. I’ve taken myself off of antidepressants before and the side effects of coming off these things are brutal. I spent two weeks in bed, I felt awful. It’s a really good message to say to people that you can obviously give it a go if you feel ready but you have to do it with a doctor because it’s not that easy just to go right, I’ll stop.”
Earlier on Friday, Roman said in a statement that he shared via social media: “It has now been 4 months since I stopped taking anti-depressants and it’s safe to say they’re out of my system. Something I have taken since I was 15 years old. Now while I’m still learning about why I suddenly want to cry more and may get a bit snappier at my friends, I’m excited at the thought of understanding what the emotional side of me is really like.
“I’m neither for or against taking anti-depressants, I’m about what is right for YOU and if it helps you then go for it. They helped me through a long period of mental struggle in my life but I’m now ready to move on. Only posting this in case anyone was ever worried about starting/stopping.”
*If you are struggling with mental health, you can speak to a trained advisor from Mind mental health charity on 0300 123 3393 or email [email protected]
