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Rosie O’Donnell gave an emotional interview on The Howard Stern Show in which she revealed her mental health issues stemmed from being sexually abused as a child.
The 55-year-old says she took the drug Effixer to help her cope with depression.
‘Since about 2003, I’ve been on Effixer and it’s been really great for me. It’s not for everyone, but for me, I knew I had to participate in my mental health,’ she said.
O’Donnell says she struggled with suicidal thoughts as a result of her depression.
‘I have suicide ideation — it means you think about it, you never make the plan necessarily of how you’re going to do it,’ she revealed. ‘There’s a great lyric in Hamilton, ‘sometime’s it’s easier to just swim down.’ You feel like there’s no chance you’re going to get to the surface again. And I’ve had that probably three times in my life — all as an adult… all over world events.’
The comedian says being sexually abused as a child resulted in her having a ‘sort of body dysmorphia’.
‘I think it’s just more of a disconnect; I think it’s what your body does to protect you if you’re a kid who’s sexually abused — which I was. You kind of disconnect from your body, you dissociate — you don’t pay attention to it. You don’t want to love it, because it’s kind of betrayed you in some way.
‘It was in therapy that I realised I felt scared by the attraction of these men and I wanted to make my body something that would not get them out of the little area where they sell candy to help me.’
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