Loose Women's Linda Robson makes heartbreaking confession she self-harmed as she opens up over rehab stint | The Sun
LINDA Robson today revealed her tough mental health battle in a candid moment on Loose Women as she opened up about self harming two years ago.
The Birds of a Feather star, 64, shared her story to the panel after a viewer contacted the ITV show about his own struggle with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD).
She said she hit rock bottom and had a breakdown on holiday with her Loose Women co-stars Nadia Sawalha and Stacey Solomon, who brought her home and took her to The Priory rehabilitation clinic.
The brave TV star explained: "Well I, like Connor, have got a bit of OCD so everything has to be really clean, and at the moment we've got mice in our house so it's really stressful.
"I have had really bad mental health problems. I was off work two years ago and I turned to drink, I always drunk wine of a night time, spritzers, but never drunk of a daytime.
"I got put on medication that sent me a bit mad. I got put on a certain drug that was supposed to help my depression but it just heightened it."
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Linda went on: "So I had to go into three different establishments.
"It was the worst time in my life, I completely ruined by family's life. You were there. (Nadia)
"We were in Ibiza and I had a proper breakdown with all the girls out there, and Stacey had to take me home and take me to The Priory and from there I went to another establishment.
"So for two years I had really really bad depression, was self harming, was cleaning everywhere that I went, when I got home then I was cleaning my bedding every day.
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"I have managed to get myself back to how I was before, I'm off all medication now, I haven't drunk for three years now and I don't miss it. I used to love my spritzers of a night time."
Today's show anchor Charlene White asked Linda what advice she would give to Connor, after she admitted she had found comfort in setting a routine for each day.
Linda replied: "What I find that helps is if you keep yourself busy so you work out what you're going to do in the day, and don't have time to sit and think about the things you worry about.
"I think about going into Loose Women with my mates and I'm happy.
"The OCD is a horrible thing to have, it really is. My mum had it. She couldn't have any rubbish in the house, we were washing our hands long before Covid, washing hands 20 times a day.
"Keeping busy, reading a book, I read a lot of books and try not to watch too much TV."
LINDA'S ISOLATION
Throughout her years on the show, Linda has been vocal about particular bad bouts of depression, and her reliance on alcohol to help her through it.
She checked into rehab in 2018 after suffering a breakdown in order to get herself back on her feet.
However, her mental health was made worse when lockdown forced her into isolation back in March 2020.
Thankfully, she knew she had some friends to fall back on in the form of her castmates.
“During the first couple of weeks of lockdown, I was so depressed,” she previously said.
“I was stuck indoors, I couldn’t go and see my grandchildren. My sister and my niece both had breast cancer and I couldn’t even go to see them.
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“But then we went back to work on the show five weeks after the first lockdown and that was our saving grace. It meant I was getting up and going to work two or three times a week.”
Linda added: “Loose Women has helped me through some really tough times. I go to work with my mates every day. We have such a laugh. And I think it helps the people who watch it, too.”
You’re Not Alone
EVERY 90 minutes in the UK a life is lost to suicide.
It doesn't discriminate, touching the lives of people in every corner of society – from the homeless and unemployed to builders and doctors, reality stars and footballers.
It's the biggest killer of people under the age of 35, more deadly than cancer and car crashes.
And men are three times more likely to take their own life than women.
Yet it's rarely spoken of, a taboo that threatens to continue its deadly rampage unless we all stop and take notice, now.
That is why The Sun launched the You're Not Alone campaign.
The aim is that by sharing practical advice, raising awareness and breaking down the barriers people face when talking about their mental health, we can all do our bit to help save lives.
Let's all vow to ask for help when we need it, and listen out for others… You're Not Alone.
If you, or anyone you know, needs help dealing with mental health problems, the following organisations provide support:
- CALM, www.thecalmzone.net, 0800 585 858
- Heads Together, www.headstogether.org.uk
- Mind, www.mind.org.uk, 0300 123 3393
- Papyrus, www.papyrus-uk.org, 0800 068 41 41
- Samaritans, www.samaritans.org, 116 123
- Movember, www.uk.movember.com
- Anxiety UK www.anxietyuk.org.uk, 03444 775 774 Monday-Friday 9.30am-10pm, Saturday/Sunday 10am-8pm
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