Ruby Wax: I will give my children anti-depressants if they need them

COMEDIAN Ruby Wax has spoken out against the stigma surrounding anti-depressants, saying it is dangerous not to give young people with mental illnesses the appropriate medication.

Wax, who has been open about her own long struggle with clinical depression, said she was ready and willing to give her children anti-depressants if they succumbed to the condition.

The 64-year-old, right, added that she regrets not telling Max, now 29, Madeleine, 27, and Marina, 24, about her own mental health issues until they were in their late teens. Speaking to The Mail on Sunday ahead of her Radio 4 programme on stress, Wax said: ‘I should have told them earlier, but I didn’t want them to be scared. I think kids should be told. ‘If you’re the care-giver and the care-giver goes down, imagine their fear levels. At least if you know mummy’s “out of town” mentally for a few weeks but you’ll be back, it’s not so scary. ‘I was frightened they would suffer it too and told them I was ready to give them medication if a doctor had said so. They were relieved. As it turned out, they don’t have it.’

Wax has been on antidepressants for 20 years and was awarded an OBE in 2015 for services to mental health.

In the Radio 4 programme Frazzled, Wax talks about being stressed, which she calls a ‘contemporary disease’. Last year, she started a series of Frazzled cafes in 11 Marks & Spencer stores around the country in which people can go and talk about the stresses of their everyday lives.

Stand Up Sunday begins on BBC Radio 4 on April 15 with Ruby Wax – Frazzled.