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Delta Burke opens up about mental illness
By: Associated Press - | ∞
LOS ANGELES ---- For the first time since entering a psychiatric hospital in January, Delta Burke has spoken out about her depression, saying she remembered having anxiety as early as kindergarten.
In a two-part "Entertainment Tonight" interview that aired Feb. 21-22, Burke said she needed "an adjustment under a physician's care" after the five medications she was taking no longer worked. Now she's on two medications, Burke said.
By coming forward, Burke hopes to help remove the stigma surrounding depression. She said she would like people to pursue mental help the same way they might with another illness.
Burke's depression has at times been debilitating. One of her lowest moments came while she was starring in the long-running series "Designing Women."
"I was parked in the car in the hills with a gun and a bottle of Xanax beside me, trying to recover from harsh words said in the tabloids," she said. "I just wanted the pain to go away."
But she insisted she wasn't going to commit suicide, saying: "I didn't want to die. If I ever really wanted to be dead, I'd be dead."
Burke, who also struggles with hoarding, said she recognizes it's a problem.
"At one time I had 27 storage units. I don't have a big enough house!" she said. "My mom had it, it's my mother's fault. She saved the diaper I came home from the hospital in!"
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