‘I’ve never been so close to seeking help’: Carol McGiffin reveals she is considering going to therapy and has had days where she struggled to get out of bed during lockdown
Carol McGiffin has admitted she has never come closer to seeking therapy than during the coronavirus pandemic.
The TV presenter, 60, revealed on Tuesday’s episode of Loose Women that, although she has never had depression, she has struggled to get out of bed recently.
Speaking to her co-hosts, Carol said: ‘I’ve never felt so close to seeking help in my whole life. Some days, I’ve got to the point where I’m thinking, I can’t get out of bed today.’
Honest: Carol McGiffin, 60, has admitted she has never come closer to seeking therapy than during the coronavirus pandemic
Carol referenced fellow panellist Denise Welch, who has been open about her struggles with mental health and depression in the past.
She said: ‘Denise talks about the dark cloud, I’ve been very sympathetic but I’ve never understood how bad that can be. I can’t see the end of this. And it’s not just because of the virus.’
Denise said that Carol had got in touch with her about struggling through lockdown and added that she thinks there will be an ‘anxiety epidemic’ due to the virus.
She said: ‘McGiff did get in touch with me the other day and said that. So many people have anxiety and have no idea how to control it.’
Mental health: The TV presenter revealed on Tuesday’s episode of Loose Women that, although she has never had depression, she has struggled to get out of bed recently
It comes after Denise revealed she suffered two nervous breakdowns while starring as Natalie Horrocks in Coronation Street.
The 61-year-old told The Sun that she battled clinical depression after the birth of her eldest son Matthew.
She told the publication: ‘My depression was so bad I had two nervous breakdowns while doing Coronation Street.
‘I was trying to work through them to the point that I was getting up at 5am for filming.
‘I was crawling on my hands and knees to the toilet, making myself vomit, because by making myself be sick I was trying for the 10 seconds of being sick to try and take away the pain that was in my head.’
Carol said: ‘I’ve never felt so close to seeking help in my whole life. Some days, I’ve got to the point where I’m thinking, I can’t get out of bed today’
Denise has said the experience has helped her to understand why people self-harm but she has said that she hasn’t done that herself.
The star appeared on the ITV soap from 1997-2000 and said her friends didn’t understand depression back then, simply saying ‘we are all depressed.’
Denise has been very open about her mental health struggles in the past, particularly while starring on Loose Women.
She has battled alcoholism and is now sober and had a cocaine addiction during her 30s.
Battle: Denise previously revealed she had two nervous breakdowns while on Coronation Street as Natalie Horrocks from 1997-2000 as she detailed ‘making herself sick to feel better’
Denise previously admitted that staying sober in lockdown has been her ‘toughest challenge yet’ after being teetotal for eight years.
The actress, who lives in Cheshire with her husband Lincoln Townley, 47, opened up about her struggle on Loose Women.
She said: ‘I have found in lockdown that this is mine and Lincoln’s toughest challenge in eight years.
‘At no point have we felt that we’d pick up a drink. We have good times and bad times, it’s hard. We would like nothing more than to take the edge off.’
Denise has been sober since 2012 and celebrated her eight anniversary on April 20 this year.
Tough time: Denise has battled alcoholism in the past but has now been sober for eight years – pictured in June 2019