Made in Chelsea star Louise Thompson shared an emotional seven-minute video on Monday admitting she even forgot she had a son during a 'dark moment' in her life.
The 32-year old took to Instagram to explain that she had to step away from the social media platform after suffering severe problems with both her mental and physical health.
Louise added that she was now home on an 'awful lot of medication' following a stressful hospital stint that saw her just a couple of days away from needing to have part of her colon removed.
It's the star's 'cruel, invisible' mental health problems that have proven a bigger challenge, however, with Louise revealing that several men had recently reached out to her whose partners didn't have the support they needed during their own battles, which ultimately 'didn't end so well'.
As a result she is now on a mission to encourage others to speak out, despite her ongoing 'clearly emotional' state.
"I cannot allow others to go through the same experience," she said. "I'm lucky I've had support from my partner, my family live close by, I've had financial support and a crisis team check on me every day to make sure I'm taking my medication and telling me that every day I will get better."
Louise went on to talk about her darkest moments admitting that every time she heard an aeroplane fly over her house she wanted it to crash into the house and 'obliterate us' and that 'all she could think about was death' as that would be 'easier for everyone'.
She continued by describing the 'hell' that left her unable to look at her own body and scared of everything in her house - before the stark admission that not only being able to leave the house, she didn't know that she had a child.
She also feared back to back panic attacks, revealing at one point she 'couldn't see, taste or smell' with every word that came out of her mouth 'not making sense'.
The TV personality, who is no longer in that 'state' now hopes that speaking out will encourage others in similar situations to seek support and open up themselves.
And she provided her 1.4 million followers with words of wisdom from the heart.
"Everything in life is transient. It will get better. You will find joy, you will find happiness again," she told them encouragingly.
"Whether you will have to take medication, that's fine - it helped me.
"Please talk, please share. Please don't feel alone. There are ways out. There is no magic cure for this disease and it requires patience. You have to keep going."
A lengthy accompanying caption to the video read: "Hey lovely people, how are you feeling today?"
"All feelings most welcome over here. Mine are a constant rollercoaster from high to low to happy to sad to randomly angry to then feeling guilty. WOW the brain is a complex organ.
"So, it’s been an age since I’ve jumped on here to do a video but I just wanted to get on and do it. My rationale for doing this video was to try and help someone that might be suffering in silence or feeling alone but I’m not sure whether I will be able to achieve that. You might just watch this video and think that I’m totally mad but after everything I’ve been through I’ve not got a dime of shame left in this old bag of bones so I really have nothing to lose at this point. Dig in and judge all you like."
She continued: "About 4 months ago I kept having these wild racing thoughts at night where I REALLY wanted to talk about my experience because I really wanted to help people… I waited, and waited and waited for a peaceful (or balanced) moment but it turns out I’m not going to miraculously get better so let’s just get on with things.
"I’m not going to sugar coat things I’ve had a bloody rough ride over the past year. My life went from a 9/10 to a 1/10 in the space of about a month. I didn’t do anything to deserve it, but shit just happened. I survived a house fire, a few near death experiences, a long old stint in hospital, and some CATASTROPHIC mental health breakdowns. More recently I’ve been readmitted because of some severe colon problems where I was about 2 days away from ending up with life changing surgery. It doesn’t get any easier, although at least this time round I actually knew where I was and what my name was. I was tripping BALLS for the months before. I guess that’s some nice perspective for me to cling onto.
"It has taken me a great deal of strength to get to where I am today and even more strength to record this video. Despite being on tv for a decade it doesn’t come easy. I had everything racked in my favour and yet it all went wrong. You never think it’s going to happen to you, but then WHAM it can, so be open to it. Show empathy to others.
"The sad thing is that some people are even less prepared than me."
Fans and celebrities were quick to offer Louise their support after her post was watched a staggering 420,000 within two hours.
Amongst the 3,500 replies during that early period, Ex on the Beach star Leonie McSorley wrote: "Thank you so much for sharing this. I can’t imagine what that must have felt like or been and is still like for you suffering in that way but the fact you can use your platform to give other people hope is amazing! Keep fighting."
Singer CC Clarke added: "You are so brave and inspiring. I wish you didn’t have to go through this but thank you for helping so many."
One fan, meanwhile commented: "It’s incredibly refreshing to to see how open you are being about your trauma. Total respect to you for being so vulnerable and sharing your experience with us. I hope in time that life becomes easier for you. So inspirational."
And another responded: "Thank you for you honesty Louise, I have inflammatory bowel disease too plus I'm going through menopause and I sometimes think no one understands me or cares! Definitely my mental health suffers, stay strong. Sending you big hugs."
Do you have a story to sell? Get in touch with us at webcelebs@mirror.co.uk or call us direct 0207 29 33033.
