In the December issue of InStyle magazine, Catherine Zeta-Jones talks about dealing with her bipolar disorder. The actress decided to talk about her mental health hoping it will help other patients too.
She was once the Hollywood girl that will sweep you off your feet, but recently, except for “Rock of Ages”, Catherina Zeta-Jones kept out of the public eye. In a recent and candid interview with InStyle, the 43-year-old actress talked about controlling her bipolar disorder and how she managed to deal with that while having a career and a family.
“It’s not easy. I’m not the kind of person who likes to shout out my personal issues from the rooftops, but with my bipolar becoming public, I hope fellow sufferers will know it’s completely controllable” Catherine Zeta-Jones told InStyle. “I hope I can help remove any stigma attached to it, and that those who don’t have it under control will seek help with all that is available to treat it” the actress added.
In April 2011, right about her husband Michael Douglas was diagnosed with cancer, the 43-year-old actress checked herself “into a mental health facility for a brief stay to treat her bipolar II disorder”. The statement released at that time also read that Catherine Zeta-Jones was “feeling great and looking forward to starting work this week on her two upcoming films”.
Mark Davies, Rethink Mental Illness, said then that “when people such as Catherine Zeta-Jones speak out it, makes a big difference to the millions of other people facing mental illness”. “There is still a lot of stigma around mental health, which often means that people stay silent and try to fight the illness on their own” he added.
Previously known as the manic-depressive disorder, the bipolar disorder is a condition that makes the patient go through often and quick mood swings from mania to depression. Governmental data reads that there are 5.7 million American adults diagnosed with bipolar disorder. That means 2.6 percent of the US population age 18 and older deals with bipolar disorder.
The treatment for bipolar disorder involves taking medication that helps patients be more in control of their mood swings. For Catherine Zeta-Jones, exercise helped too. “It really helps my mood too, which, with the bipolar thing, is important”.
Thank you so much for sharing this. For those us outside Hollywood, I’ve had the impression they must have the perfect life, no money worries, both, both male and females always seem to be attractive,, so how could there be any problems. I am also bipolar. Most of the time I don’t want to tell people how I feel and just want to do
something unproductive just to keep my mind busy and avoid people.