Mariah Carey reveals she ‘lived in denial and isolation’ during decade-long battle with bipolar disorder
The singer said she initially thought she just had problems sleeping - but she was suffering from mania, one half of bipolar disorder, which kept her working to exhaustion
Mariah Carey has revealed that she has long been battling bipolar disorder, explaining that after years of suffering in silence, “I refuse to allow it to define me or control me.”
The 48-year-old singer-songwriter described how the mental health condition has affected her and her attempts to cope in an interview published in People magazine’s April 23 issue,.
“For a long time I thought I had a severe sleep disorder,” she said. “But it wasn’t normal insomnia and I wasn’t lying awake counting sheep. I was working and working and working … I was irritable and in constant fear of letting people down. It turns out that I was experiencing a form of mania.
Eventually I would just hit a wall. I guess my depressive episodes were characterised by having very low energy. I would feel so lonely and sad - even guilty that I wasn’t doing what I needed to be doing for my career.”
In 2001, Carey checked herself into the hospital for what her publicist called “an emotional and physical breakdown” and was placed under psychiatric care.
