Watch as Sinead O’Connor Opens Up About Mental Illness in Heartbreaking New Video
Sinead O'Connor has posted a heartbreaking video to Facebook in the hopes that being brutally honest about her lonely battle with mental illness might help others. Watch it below.
Calling herself "one of millions," O'Connor describes being abandoned by both her family and friends. "My spirit is so huge and it won't die ever. But my body is tiny, and it's dying," she says in the clip, which was broadcast from a motel room in New Jersey. "We're treated like pieces of sh-- because we're not dying of cancer, we're dying of something emotional."
O'Connor has previously revealed that she has bipolar disorder, depression and has at times been suicidal. She went missing last year, sparking fears that she might kill herself, only to be found safe in a hotel in the Chicago suburbs. O'Connor received treatment in 2016 after writing a suicide note to her family, and also attended rehab for a marijuana addiction. She is currently being treated for kidney stones.
“I’m all by myself and there’s absolutely nobody in my life except my doctor, my psychiatrist – the sweetest man on earth, who says I’m his hero," she says in the video, "and that’s about the only thing keeping me alive at the moment – and that’s kind of pathetic. I want everyone to know what it’s like. That’s why I’m making this video.”
O'Connor also takes time to address the stigma attached to mental illness, in an attempt to convince others to help those who are struggling rather than judging them.
"I know I am just one of millions and that's the only other thing that keeps me going. I am making this video because I am one of millions and that should be our f---ing catchphrase from now on: One of millions," she says. "Why are we alone? People with mental illness are the most vulnerable people on Earth. We can't take care of ourselves, you f---ing idiots. You've got to take care of us. We're not like everybody f---ing else. We're doing our best. My entire life is revolving around just not dying, and that's not living."
She later accuses her children and their fathers of ignoring her condition, rather than coming to the U.S. to escort her back home to Ireland. "People should see what this is like, not just write: It's stigma that's killing people, not the f---ing mental illness," O'Connor adds. "What about everybody who can't do what I can do? What about everybody who hasn't got a f---ing iPad and can talk to the strangers on Facebook?"
As alarm spread among her fanbase, an update was posted to O'Connor's account by an unknown party earlier today. The message said O'Connor was "safe, and she is not suicidal. She is surrounded by love and receiving the best of care. She asked for this to be posted knowing you are concerned for her."
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