Andrea McLean secretly battled with postnatal depression following the birth of her daughter 10 years ago.
Andrea McLean
The 'Loose Women' panellist was fighting the mental health condition, which affects some women after they give birth, for two years until she finally decided to seek professional help.
Speaking on the lunchtime show today (25.04.16), she said: "I had postnatal depression for two years before I finally went to the doctors. It's something I suffered from and hid.
"I've been working on this show for nine years now and I had it while I was on this show. A lot of people obviously see me and I've been in hair and makeup and I'm all professional and I do my job smiling, interacting, being interested but what I was doing was sobbing all the way home."
The 46-year-old presenter - who also has 15-year-old son Finlay - sunk so low after the birth of Amy in 2006 that she started to believe her family would live a better life she wasn't around to drag them down with her dark moods.
She said: "I felt that my family would be better off without me. I felt that my daughter would be better off without me. I was so ashamed of how I was feeling and then when I tried to talk about it with various people in my life at the time, [they said] 'What have you got to moan about? Your life is amazing.' "
Andrea - who was on anti-depressants while she was battling with the illness - now understands how to care for her mind and tries to meditate when she feels herself "dipping."
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