Last year Catherine Zeta-Jones went public about her bipolar disorder – and said just recently she hopes she can help remove the stigma from the mental condition.
But during an interview on ABC’s Good Morning America today, Catherine Zeta-Jones insisted she is tired of talking about the illness.
Catherine Zeta-Jones was treated in a psychiatric hospital last April for manic depression over the stress of her husband Michael Douglas’s battle against cancer.
At the time her publicist confirmed she was receiving help for the mood-altering illness.
Despite being very open about her condition since, during her interview today Catherine Zeta-Jones insisted she “never wanted to become the poster child” – and does not want to be seen as a victim.
She said: “You know what? I’m sick of talking about it because I never wanted to be the poster child for this.”
“I never wanted this to come out publicly. It came out,” she added emphatically.
Talking about how she copes with the illness she went on: “I dealt with it in the best way I could and that was just saying: <<Hey, I’m bipolar>>. Everyone has things going on and we deal with them as best we can.”
Very matter of factly, Catherine Zeta-Jones continued: “We can’t go jump from the rooftops shouting about I have this, look at me, victim.
“No, we all have issues in our life and I’m really lucky that I have great friends, great support and that’s all I can do.”
Catherine Zeta-Jones suffers from bipolar II, which unlike bipolar I, means the “up” moods do not reach full-on levels of mania.
Rather than descending into deep depressions, patients can be very outgoing, functional and often more productive than normal, one reason why it often goes undiagnosed.
Despite suggesting her reluctance to talk about her illness, Catherine Zeta-Jones spoke in detail to InStyle magazine this month about her diagnosis last year.
“It’s been an intense time, in good ways and bad,” Catherine Zeta-Jones said.
“You find out who you really are and who you are married to. You find things inside yourself you never imagined were there.”
“I’ve gained an appreciation for little things, like tea outside on a terrace and a beautiful afternoon like this.”
Catherine Zeta-Jones has been married to Michael Douglas for 12 years and the couple have two children together, son Dylan and daughter Carys.
It was reported last year that Catherine Zeta-Jones spent five days in a mental health clinic recovering, which lead to the diagnosis of bipolar disorder.
She also told the magazine that she hopes she can help other suffering with the condition.
“I’m not the kind of person who likes to shout out my personal issues from the rooftops but with my bipolar becoming public, I hope fellow sufferers will know it is completely controllable.
“I hope I can help remove any stigma attached to it, and that those who don’t have it under control will seek help with all that is available to treat it.”
