Keeley Hawes has candidly opened up about her battles with mental health and admitted that she used to be ‘ashamed’ of her struggles.
The Bodyguard star, 44, has previously spoken about suffering from periods of depression and anxiety since her teenage years.
And she has now admitted that she was ‘ashamed and really embarrassed’ of her mental health struggles until she spoke about her experiences around ten years ago.
Depression: Keeley Hawes has opened up about her battles with mental health and revealed that she used to be ‘ashamed’ of her struggles
But Keeley insisted that she has since learnt that depression is ‘nothing to be ashamed off’ as she looked back at her own struggles with mental health.
She told The Times: ‘It’s [depression] nothing to be ashamed of, you know.
‘I was ashamed of it for a long time, I was really embarrassed and now, looking back, it was only sort of ten years ago or something I think that I spoke out, maybe not even that.’
She went on to say it is ‘a really good thing’ that people are talking more candidly about mental health, particularly with ‘loneliness’ amid the Covid-19 lockdown.
Shame: The Bodyguard star, 44, admitted that she was ‘ashamed and really embarrassed’ of her mental health struggles until she spoke out around ten years ago (pictured in May 2019)
The actress, who is starring in ITV’s Finding Alice, said she believes the waiting lists for people to see psychiatrists are ‘so long that it’s just not acceptable’ during the ongoing pandemic.
Keeley recently wrapped up filming on Finding Alice, where she stars as the titular character, a woman who is dealing with grief after her partner of 20 years dies.
After her husband Harry’s death, Alice realises he has left behind a storm of secrets and debt for her to deal with, as she struggles to come to terms with her new life.
Speaking about her own experiences with grief, Keeley revealed that she has recently lost a family member, who she did not want to name.
She explained that her family member sadly died after battling a ‘short and cruel illness’ just more than a year ago.
Grief: Keeley recently wrapped up filming on Finding Alice, where she stars as the titular character, a woman who is dealing with grief after her partner of 20 years dies
Delving into her character’s grief, she said that she hopes people will be able to relate to Alice’s reaction to it amid the tragedies of the ongoing Covid crisis.
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She continued: ‘Some people will be able to relate, some people will be shocked. But grief is unique — isn’t it? — to each one of us.’
In Finding Alice, Keeley is joined by legendary actors Joanna Lumley and Nigel Haver, who bring a comedic flare to the ITV drama playing her childish parents.
Filming for the series was initially halted last March by the first Covid lockdown, but resumed six months later.
Keeley has been keeping busy, having also recently starred in Russell T Davies Aids drama It’s a Sin, where she plays Olly Alexander’s (Ritchie) mother.
Loss: Speaking about her own experiences with grief, Keeley revealed that she has recently lost a family member, who she did not want to name
The Channel 4 drama follows the tragic stories of three gay 18-year-olds who arrive in London in 1981, at the beginning of the HIV epidemic.
Comparing the Aids crisis to the Covid pandemic, Keeley told The Times that it is strange that the two are not compared, as people instead say they have ‘never known anything like this’.
During the Covid crisis, Keeley has been spending quality time with her husband of 16 years Matthew Macfadyen.
The smitten pair were able to spend a massive eight months together, before the Quiz star, 46, finally had to return to New York to film Succession in the autumn.
The married couple share two children together – Maggie, 16, and Ralph, 14 – while Keeley is also a mother to Myles, 20, who she had with her ex-husband Spencer McCallum.
Smitten: During the Covid crisis, Keeley has been spending quality time with her husband of 16 years Matthew Macfadyen as their filming projects were halted
Back in 2019, Keeley admitted that she staves off the depression that she has long battled by keeping her schedule busy.
The Durrells star told The Mail on Sunday’s You magazine that her depression is something that will never go away but she looks after herself by keeping busy.
She explained: ‘It’s something that never goes away, I think it is in your DNA if you suffer with it.
‘I have become better equipped at looking after myself. I’ve tried various things over the years. Keeping busy helps, being forced to carry on, because inevitably it will pass.’
She also spoke frankly about her bouts of anxiety, saying: ‘It’s a very human thing, isn’t it, to worry about what you say and how you are perceived?’
Source: Daily Mail
