Mariah reveals battle with bipolar disorder that left her in ‘denial, fear and isolation’
SHE is known as much for her diva demands as her string of hit records. Now Mariah Carey has revealed she is being treated for bipolar disorder. The US singer, 48, says she was first diagnosed in 2001 when being treated for a physical and mental breakdown but ‘didn’t want to believe it’. She is now in therapy and receiving treatment. Miss Carey told People magazine: ‘Until recently I lived in denial and isolation and in constant fear someone would expose me. It was too heavy a burden to carry and I simply couldn’t do that any more. ‘I sought and received treatment, I put positive people around me and I got back to doing what I love – writing songs and making music.’ Miss Carey, whose biggest hits include Without You and All I Want For Christmas Is You, said that the medication she is taking for type two bipolar disorder is having a positive effect. ‘It’s not making me feel too tired or sluggish or anything like that. Finding the proper balance is what is most important.’
The mother of six-year-old twins said that she first thought she was suffering with insomnia as she could not sleep, and that she was ‘working and working and working’. She was ‘irritable and in constant fear of letting people down’ and later learned she was experiencing a form of mania.
‘Eventually I would just hit a wall,’ she said. ‘I would feel so lonely and sad – even guilty that I wasn’t doing what I needed to be doing for my career.’
The singer, who has sold more than 200million records worldwide, said that she was now in ‘a really good place’ and hoped that talking about her experiences would help lift the stigma surrounding the disorder.
Miss Carey, who is worth an estimated £125million, is known for having everything arranged to meet her demands. She once reportedly insisted on having kittens provided on tour, as well as bottles of vitamin water to wash her dogs.
She ‘doesn’t do stairs’ and insists on wearing high heels at all times – even in her gym. She has been known to have bodyguards surround her restaurant table so diners can’t see her eat.
She booked every penthouse suite in one hotel to ensure her privacy and was driven around in her limo at another until it had rolled out a candle-lined red carpet for her – at 2am.
And she once bought all the seats on a flight so she could travel alone.
Bipolar disorder, characterised by extreme mood swings, usually develops in the late teens and affects one adult in 100 at some point.
‘I’m in a really good place now’