Denise Welch has revealed she drank alcohol “to take away the pain” during her mental health battle which left her isolated and lonely.
In an extract from her new book, The Unwelcome Visitor: Depression and How I Survive It, the Loose Women panellist opened up about her 31-year mental illness battle.
During her time on Coronation Street, the actress recalled how she would hide in her dressing room “sleeping or pretending I was asleep, so I didn’t have to talk to anyone”.
In an excerpt of her book, obtained by The Mirror, Denise discussed her dependence on booze as a way of dealing with her depression.
Denise Welch has discussed her battle with alcohol in her new book (Image: Sophia Spring)
‘Because of my mental illness, there were times I didn’t know if I was going to make it through,” she wrote.
“Alcohol made things worse. I drank a lot, reaching for anything to take away the pain and keep me going… to lift the isolation and loneliness. It put me into kind of a dead zone.
“For the two or three hours I was actually consuming alcohol, it obliterated my illness. That is why so many people with depression drink.”
Denise, who has been sober for eight years, admitted her drinking habit soon took over her life, which left her questioning if she was turning into an alcoholic.
The 62-year-old explained: “My issues with drinking started with self-medication and grew into alcoholism – or was it the other way round?
“It’s the chicken or the egg. Alcohol causes depression. Depression causes alcoholism –and I was becoming an alcoholic.”
The Loose Women panelist has been sober for eight years (Image: WireImage)
Denise was diagnosed with clinical depression after her first son, The 1975 frontman Matthew Healy, was born in 1989.
It was a trip to Tenerife in 2005 that she realised she had an alcohol addiction, and called Corrie actor Kevin Kennedy, who played Curly Watts on the soap, for help.
He took Denise to her first AA meeting in Cheshire “where I admitted for the first time that I had a drink problem”.
She added: “I’ve been talking publicly about depression for almost three decades now. I want to tell people with this illness they are not alone and explain how it feels to people who don’t understand it.”
Samaritans (116 123) operates a 24-hour service available every day of the year. If you prefer to write down how you’re feeling, or if you’re worried about being overheard on the phone, you can email Samaritans at jo@samaritans.org
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
