Loose Women star opens up about battle with depression saying disorder is ‘kicking my a**e and I am so over it’
FRANKIE Bridge has shared a brutally honest post about her struggling to be motivated after a tough day fighting depression.
The 36-year-old star, who has openly spoken about her mental health in the past, admitted last week that a bout of illness had left her knocked out and feeling low.
And in a new post, the Loose Women star shared that, despite now feeling better physically, she’s still trying to remain strong mentally, even though it took her a “whole day” to bring herself to work out at her family’s home gym.
Speaking directly to the camera and sharing via Instagram Stories, Frankie said: “I have finally made it down to the gym. It’s taken me the whole day to actually get here.
“My depression is absolutely kicking my a**e, and I’m so over it. You know when you just feel like you do all the things you’re told you’re meant to do, and then it just still always comes back?
“I’m just so bored of myself. It is so boring. You know when you just think everyone around me must just be so bored of it as well, and I just I’m over it.”
“But I’m here,” she added. “I’m going to try and do as much as I can in the gym, because I know it will make me feel better, instead of just sitting around, eating s**t, which is what I’ve been doing all day, which only makes me feel worse and I know that, so I don’t know why I do it, but here we are back in the same old place.”
Thankfully some time at the gym seemed to do the trick for Frankie, who later credited her workout alongside the music to band Paramore for lifting her spirits.
“There is not much that a little bit of Paramore and a workout can’t fix,” she told her followers. “I definitely feel a lot better, and if I hadn’t have come in, I’d have just berated myself even more.
“But I had the whole day that I was able to come to the gym, and I just didn’t, I just sat around and just wallowed in self pity. And so I am glad that I did it, and I do definitely feel better for it. I feel like it’s picked me up.”
While she noted she still felt bad about ‘not going in earlier’, she added: “I just couldn’t do it. Just couldn’t get in here before now. So it is what it is.
“I should just be pleased that I’ve done it. So yeah, it’s just a little reminder. Sometimes we have bad days. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better one.”
Frankie has long been open about her battle with depression and anxiety, leaving fans in tears during 2021 when she opened up about it in the I’m A Celebrity jungl.e
After she revealed she was hospitalised for a breakdown aged 21, her campmate Matty Lee asked what the turning point was in her recovery.
Frankie opened up on husband and former footballer Wayne Bridge and said: “Because I was with Wayne, I still remember being in the shower, and thinking, I love him, we’d spoken about marriage and kids and stuff, we had a beautiful home, I had a career I’d always wanted, but I just knew I was fundamentally unhappy.
“And that was when I realised that something just really wasn’t right. It was almost being happy made me realise I was unhappy, which is probably really hard for people to understand.”
She also addressed her medication in camp and told how she “would love not to” have depression and anxiety.
Depression... the signs to look for and what to do
Depression can manifest in many ways.
We all feel a bit low from time to time.
But depression is persistent and can make a person feel helpless and unable to see a way through.
They may also struggle to about daily life.
Mind says these are some common signs of depression that you may experience:
How you might feel
- Down, upset or tearful
- Restless, agitated or irritable
- Guilty, worthless and down on yourself
- Empty and numb
- Isolated and unable to relate to other people
- Finding no pleasure in life or things you usually enjoy
- Angry or frustrated over minor things
- A sense of unreality
- No self-confidence or self-esteem
- Hopeless and despairing
- Feeling tired all the time
How you might act
- Avoiding social events and activities you usually enjoy
- Self-harming or suicidal behaviour
- Difficulty speaking, thinking clearly or making decisions
- Losing interest in sex
- Difficulty remembering or concentrating on things
- Using more tobacco, alcohol or other drugs than usual
- Difficulty sleeping, or sleeping too much
- No appetite and losing weight, or eating more than usual and gaining weight
- Physical aches and pains with no obvious physical cause
- Moving very slowly, or being restless and agitated
If you feel this way, visit your GP who can help you.
If you, or anyone you know, needs help dealing with mental health problems, the following organisations provide support.
The following are free to contact and confidential:
- Samaritans, www.samaritans.org, 116 123, jo@samartiands.org.uk
- CALM (the leading movement against suicide in men) www.thecalmzone.net, 0800 585 858
- Papyrus (prevention of young suicide) www.papyrus-uk.org, 0800 068 41 41
- Shout (for support of all mental health) www.giveusashout.org/get-help/, text 85258 to start a conversation
Mind, www.mind.org, provide information about types of mental health problems and where to get help for them. Email info@mind.org.uk or call the infoline on 0300 123 3393 (UK landline calls are charged at local rates, and charges from mobile phones will vary).
YoungMinds run a free, confidential parents helpline on 0808 802 5544 for parents or carers worried about how a child or young person is feeling or behaving. The website has a chat option too.
Rethink Mental Illness, www.rethink.org, gives advice and information service offers practical advice on a wide range of topics such as The Mental Health Act, social care, welfare benefits, and carers rights. Use its website or call 0300 5000 927 (calls are charged at your local rate).