Beverley Callard may have Bipolar Disorder.
Beverley Callard
The 'Coronation Street' star has battled with depression on and off for the majority of her life but, following her crippling breakdown earlier this year, her new psychiatrist is convinced she's also dealing with another mental illness.
Speaking on 'This Morning' on Tuesday (20.09.16), she explained: "My psychiatrist at present, he is convinced that I am bipolar too. He is convinced of it. The way he explained it to me is that I don't get these amazing highs or hallucinations.
"But I get the tremendous lows. I don't get the good bits I get the bad bits. But now I am much more even and relaxed."
The 59-year-old star - who is known for playing Liz McDonald in the ITV programme - was signed off work for two months in March when she was plunged into deep depression while shooting her scenes for the long-running soap after she ran out of one of the types of drugs she took for the illness.
She explained: "I was completely suicidal. I couldn't leave the house. I didn't leave the bedroom. I wouldn't take calls."
However, Beverley has now managed to find a selection of medication that controls her moods like her old drug, which was discontinued abruptly without warning earlier this year.
She said: "I'm much better. I think I tried four different medications to replace the one that was missing but I'm still on HRT [hormone replacement therapy] . I take an oestrogen gel a testosterone gel, so I think I'll be great in the Olympics and I take two different anti-depressants."
Bipolar Disorder, which was formerly known as manic depression, is a condition that affects your moods.
People with the illness tend to have periods of extreme highs and extreme lows and it's believed one in every 100 adults will be diagnosed with the condition in the UK.
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