Yahoo News 'Corrie's' Beverley Callard says she'll be 'medicated forever' for depression
Coronation Street favourite Beverley Callard has given a frank interview about her mental health struggles, admitting she believes she will be on medication for the rest of her life.
Callard, who has played Liz McDonald in the ITV soap on and off since 1989, has spoken many times about her experience of depression over the last 30 years that has pushed her to attempt suicide in the past.
Read more: Beverley Callard talks about recovering from nervous breakdown
In an honest interview with the Daily Star on Sunday, Callard said that she didn’t think she would ever be able to manage her condition without medication after previous periods off anti-depressants had sent her into a downward spiral.
She said: “I’ll have to be medicated forever. I know I will have to take medication for the rest of my life. I am grateful it’s there.”
Somebody once said to me “you’ve had clinical depression, you may be flaky and unreliable!” I wasn’t before, I’m not now! Depression CAN be managed with the right professional help! We must fight for everyone to be able to have that! @MindCharity xxx
— Beverley Callard (@Beverleycallard) February 24, 2019
However, Callard, 62, said that she was currently in a good phase because she felt able to talk about the problems she faces.
She explained: “It’s really weird, but when you’re in the depths of it you can’t talk about it - you can only talk about it when you’ve got better.
“So I wouldn’t be able to discuss anything if I wasn’t well. But once I’ve recovered I can try to champion the cause then to help people going through it.”
Read more: Denise Welch bravely shares tearful videos of living with depression
The soap star is an ambassador for mental health charity MIND, and said that she felt people in the public eye such as herself opening up about their own struggles was helping to remove the stigma of having problems with depression.
Callard has been in good company discussing her mental health over the weekend, as former castmate Denise Welch has also drawn praise for her bravery in chronicling a depressive episode.
This is hard to share but I said I would. 15 minutes later pic.twitter.com/nv7D8Jihxl
— Denise Welch (@RealDeniseWelch) September 29, 2019
Welch posted a series of videos of herself to Twitter in which she explained what it was like to live with depression and broke down in tears as she talked her way through a bad period of 48 hours.
She was inundated with messages of support from others who had suffered from depression and from celebrity pals.
