Denise Welch shares what 'saved her life' after health heartbreak and death hoax

05 December 2023 , 15:03

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Denise Welch shares what 'saved her life' after health heartbreak and death hoax

Denise Welch opened up on her mental heath struggles on Loose Women.

The actress and mum to The 1975 star Matty Healy has been a mental health advocate for many years and has previously spoken candidly about her own experienced with clinical depression. On Tuesday's Loose Women, the panel discussed: "Are we too reliant on a ‘pill for every ill’?"

Denise said: "I’ve suffered from clinical depression/major depressive disorder for 30 years, I am a huge massive advocate for antidepressant medication when it is prescribed for the right reasons. And, for me, I have a chemical imbalance and I need an antidepressant to help replace that.

"It has literally saved my life and many other peoples’ lives. I have worked for many years as a mental health advocate to try and break down the stigma of taking medication." Later in the discussion, Denise addressed the question's topic on being "too reliant" on certain medications.

Denise opened up on her mental health (ITV)

She added: "It’s a two-prong thing for me, I do agree with what they’re saying but I do not want it to take away for the fact that antidepressants are a life-saving medication." Meanwhile, Denise took to social media earlier this week to reassure fans she was alive after false claims circulated online she had died.

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The actress was the target of an online death hoax on Sunday, with the 65-year-old falsely reported as dead on her Wikipedia page. She tweeted: "I'm alive and well and about to watch the jungle. Thanks for your concern."

Earlier this year, Denise opened up on her episodes of depression. She told Good Morning Britain: "It’s good to talk, of course it is, but this is more for the people who love and live with those people.

“Often with depression, you can’t talk, you go silent is what happens to me, so people ought to look out for when there are those changes in behaviour, when someone who is normally very chatty and very sociable and very outgoing, suddenly withdraws, those are big signs.”

“When I had it, there was nowhere really to go for help. That’s why I was sort of a lone wolf talking about it.”

Charlotte McIntyre