Suranne Jones was forced to give up driving as she battled health issues.
The 43-year-old actress shot to stardom in 2000 with her portrayal of Karen Mcdonald on Coronation Street. Suranne quit Weatherfield in 2004 and has since forged a diverse acting career.
She is currently playing LGBTQ+ icon, Anne Lister, in the critically acclaimed historical drama Gentleman Jack, which returned to our screens last month. The soap star appeared on Angela Scanlon's Thanks A Million podcast earlier this week to talk about her life in showbiz - as Yorkshire Live reports.
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The actress opened up on how she suffered an emotional breakdown, which forced her to quit driving. She said: "I had what I call an ‘emotional breakdown’ where I couldn’t go out without being very aware of everybody staring at me.
“I couldn’t drive the car because I was having panic attacks and then I went to see the doctor. I went on medication and I went into a beautiful care area of my life. Now I genuinely feel like I’ve moved through it and past it.”
Suranne has been open about her anxiety battle and said she was put on medication after suffering a "breakdown" following the death of her mum in 2018. According to MyLondon, she told Fearne Cotton's Happy Place podcast: "I’m on medication and, at some point, I’ll aim to get off that.
“I think there’s a huge taboo around it and I wasn’t going to say it but I decided last night I should because it’s important I think. Looking after your mental health is everything. It’s like going to the gym, it’s about looking after yourself.. I am fortunate to have been in therapy a very long time, but now and again the pressure builds up.”
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