Helen Flanagan opens up on 'psychotic' mental health episode after split from long-term partner Scott Sinclair
11 May 2024, 23:40
Helen Flanagan has opened up after a 'psychosis' she experienced after the breakdown of her relationship with ex-football ace Scott Sinclair.
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The former Coronation Street actress said she had a "very scary" breakdown after her split from the father of her three children.
Helen, 33, told the Sunday Mirror she began to spiral into a nightmare on a New Year's break with her children.
She told the newspaper: “My kids weren’t with me on Christmas Day because I like to be really fair with my ex, and it sounds so silly because it was only one day, but it hit me really hard.
"The plan was for me to take them to Bali for New Year instead, and although I enjoyed it, I didn’t feel myself. I was struggling. I felt terrible when I got back, I was crying all the time, I felt so low.”
Of the breakup, Helen said: “I don’t see it as a break-up, I see it as a divorce. We were together 13 years.
"But instead of processing it all, I threw myself into work and shut off my emotions. I just went into survival mode. Then it all came to the surface earlier this year and I was mentally and physically breaking down.”
She described an “awful reaction” to a prescription for ADHD that triggered a psychotic episode.
Tearful Helen said: “It was really sad and very scary. I was seeing things and I felt like I was in danger all the time.”
She made the revelations ahead of Mental Health Awareness Week which begins on Monday.
