Carol: Menopause made me think about suicide
Carol: Depression made me suicidal
TV HOST Carol Vorderman says menopausal depression left her so low she contemplated suicide.
In a moving account of her grim emotional struggle, Carol, 56, admitted the only reason she “didn’t do anything” was for the sake of her two children.
The former Countdown host, who had Katie, 24, and Cameron, 20, with ex-husband Patrick King, opened her heart to ITV’s Lorraine Kelly, revealing that she struggled with “a blackness” for several months in 2015.
Despite a stellar career, and knowing she had everything to be thankful for, there were days where she did not “see the point in carrying on”.
Carol explained: “This depression hit me and I don’t use the word lightly, this was a blackness where I would wake up.
“Nothing else in my life was going wrong. I’m a very lucky woman – no money worries or nothing like that – and I would wake up and I thought, ‘I don’t see the point in carrying on. I just don’t see the point in life.’ There was no reason to feel that way and the only reason I didn’t do anything, and I’ve not admitted it before, is because I had two children.” Carol continued: “I thought, I just want this feeling to stop.
“I’d do anything for this feeling to stop because I can’t sort it.”
As Lorraine asked what she thought may have happened if she had not received treatment, Carol responded candidly: “I suspect we wouldn’t be talking today.”
Eventually seeking help after realising her feelings could be linked to her hormonal cycle, medication proved her savour.
She revealed on Twitter she took Oestrogel and Testim plus progesterone. Carol recalled with relief: “From the moment I took it I have never, ever felt that way.”
The Pride Of Britain awards host, who revealed in March that her mother has terminal cancer, went on: “I’ve been fed up, and obviously at the moment my mum is not well so I’m upset.
“But there is a reason for all of those things, whereas before there was no reason for it and it was absolutely, categorically, to do with hormones.”
Carol previously told the Mirror that her issues took hold as soon as she reached her 50s, saying: “I love my 50s but the menopause is a bit challenging. “I had six months when I was really low. I’m not a depressed person but in that space of time I was genuinely depressed.” “I didn’t have any of those hot sweats and all of that kind of thing. I was surprised how it hit my emotions.” Carol added that she was normally a “very stable” person. The menopause starts when a woman’s periods stop and her ovaries lose their reproductive function, usually between the ages of 45 and 55.