Mariah Carey opens up about struggles with bipolar. | Photo: Disney | ABC Television Group / Flickr
Mariah Carey just opened up about her struggle with bipolar disorder for the first time.
The Fantasy singer said doctors diagnosed her in 2001 but she wasn’t ready to go public with it.
Carey said: ‘It was too heavy a burden to carry and I simply couldn’t do that anymore,’ she told PEOPLE.
‘Until recently, I lived in denial and isolation and in constant fear someone would expose me. I sought and received treatment,’ she said.
The superstar suffered an ’emotional and physical breakdown’ in 2001. Doctors hospitalized her and at the time, a spokesperson said ‘she is under psychiatric care.’
‘I put positive people around me’
After years of therapy, she is now taking medication for the bipolar II disorder. It’s a less severe form of bipolar but can still cause irritability, sleeplessness and hyperactivity.
Carey said: ‘I put positive people around me and I got back to doing what I love — writing songs and making music.
The superstar is a longtime supporter of LGBTI rights.
In 2016, she accepted GLAAD’s Ally Award. She said at the time: ‘Some awards are about statistics and things like that, and some are about something a little more real. Do you know what I mean? This feels like one of those moments, so I think it’s great.’
Hilariously, she then went on to talk about what LGBTQ means to her.
She said: ‘I had to learn a whole new alphabet to introduce and not un-include people… I don’t want to do it wrong. I decided that if I have to memorise it, I might as well elaborate on it.
‘So we have L: legendary. G: gorgeous. B: beautiful — all of you beautiful people! T: tantalizing. And even Q for quality!’
