Mariah Carey shocked the world this week when she revealed that she has been suffering from manic-depressive disorder since 2001.
Bipolar Diagnosis
The 48-year-old singer told People that she was diagnosed as a bipolar when she was hospitalized following a mental and physical breakdown 17 years ago.
"Until recently I lived in denial and isolation and in constant fear someone would expose me," Carey revealed. "It was too heavy a burden to carry and I simply couldn't do that anymore. I sought and received treatment, I put positive people around me and I got back to doing what I love — writing songs and making music."
She is currently seeking treatment for bipolar II disorder, an illness that involves drastic mood swings between periods of depression and hypomania.
"For a long time I thought I had a severe sleep disorder," she added. "But it wasn't normal insomnia and I wasn't lying awake counting sheep. I was working and working and working ... I was irritable and in constant fear of letting people down. It turns out that I was experiencing a form of mania. Eventually I would just hit a wall. I guess my depressive episodes were characterized by having very low energy. I would feel so lonely and sad — even guilty that I wasn't doing what I needed to be doing for my career."
The mother of two explained that after suffering in silence for years, she finally decided to reveal her diagnoses in order to destroy stigma surrounding mental illness.
Celebrities With Bipolar Disorder
Carey is hardly the first and only celebrity to be diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Former Disney star Demi Lovato also revealed that she was diagnosed with the mental illness at 22 years old when she went into rehab for eating disorder, drug abuse, and self-mutilation.
Action star Jean-Claude Van Damme too was diagnosed with rapid-cycling bipolar disorder when he was arrested for drunk driving and charged with spousal abuse, reported CBS News.
Catherine Zeta-Jones, Russell Brand, Linda Hamilton, and the late Carrie Fisher also suffered from the mental illness.
Thriving
With all the support she is getting, the Carey is back to her normal daily grind. The world-renowned singer is currently working on her new album, her first since 2014's Me. I Am Mariah... The Elusive Chanteuse.
She first teased her untitled fifteenth studio album on St. Patrick's Day last month on Instagram. On her post, she posed in front of a microphone in a tight, dark green dress and a bouquet of green balloons arranged behind her for good luck.
"Pon de studio," she wrote on the caption.
The "Touch My Body" singer has not announced a release date as of this writing, but the album will hopefully be released before the year ends.
In addition, Carey will be going on a world tour later this fall beginning in Auckland, New Zealand, on Oct. 7. She is set to perform in Australia, Philippines, Japan, and Indonesia until November. Tickets are now available on her official website.
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