X FACTOR: Celebrity star Jenny Ryan admitted she lost touch with reality at the peak of her depression battle.
The Chase genius, 37, says she felt like her brain stopped working in her late teens and began to feel like she was in a different world to everyone else.
However, she admits the diagnosis was a relief, because that meant other people were feeling the same way.
“I’d always been the genius of the family. Teachers said I’d definitely go to a top university and could do anything, even be Prime Minister,” she told The Mirror.
“Suddenly, things got harder. I used to enjoy doing homework but stopped trying and felt drained. Anxiety started to build and I didn’t understand what was going on.
“One day at uni it crystallised into something physical and I had an urgent need to go home. On my way to the train station I felt like I had a fish bowl on my head, as if I wasn’t part of the same world as everyone else.
Jenny is most well known for being a Chaser on ITV quiz show The Chase
Back home I sat on my parents’ sofa and felt a lack of reality. My brain couldn’t process. I just flipped out. I thought – ‘what’s going on? Is my brain broken?’
“I eventually went to the doctor who said it sounded like I could be depressed and had had an anxiety attack. The diagnosis was a relief. I thought, ‘so it’s not just me? I’m not failing? Other people feel like this sometimes?’”
Approximately one in four people in the UK will experience a mental health problem like depression or anxiety each year, according to mental health charity Mind.
While she’s most well known for beating contestants on ITV quiz show The Chase, she’s been dazzling audiences with her singing voice on X Factor.
Last week she belted out Shirley Bassey classic, This is My Life, gaining praise from the judges and fans alike.
She sailed through to the next stage of the competition.
Acts Jonny Labey and Victoria Ekanoye were axed, with judges saving Try Star and Kevin McHale instead.
This week Jenny will be singing Lady Gaga’s Edge of Glory.
