Bridgerton’sRuby Barker has released a powerful and vulnerable video on Instagram about her mental health and urged others to seek help when they need it.
The 25-year-old actress has shared that she is spending time in hospital to treat and prioritise her mental health. She filmed an almost six minute video from the hospital explaining she has ‘been really unwell for a really long time,’ before receiving her diagnosis, which she did not disclose. The actress is best known for her role as Marina Thompson in both seasons of Netflix’s romantic period drama series.
Ruby said, 'I just want to be honest with everybody, I have been struggling,' she said. 'So, I'm in the hospital at the minute, I'm going get discharged soon and hopefully get to continue with my life and I'm going take a little bit of a break from myself.’
'And I want to encourage others, if you are struggling, please do yourself a favor. Take a break, stop being so hard on yourself. And people used to always tell me not to be so hard on myself, and I never really, really knew what that meant,' Barker added.
Ruby said that she struggled to open up about her mental health and hopes the stigma surrounding mental health changes. She said she 'felt so alone', adding, 'I was carrying the weight of the world on my back.'
'I have a diagnosis, and I will talk to you about that at another time. But now I am relinquishing myself and forgiving myself and drawing a line in the sand. I can't carry on the way that I've been carrying on. I need to change. So, that's what I'm trying to do.'
The actress thanked Netflix and Bridgerton executive producer Shonda Rhimes ‘for giving me an opportunity, for saving me,’ as well as her close friends and mentors. She concluded, ‘I cannot wait to fulfil all of my engagements and to have a good career and a good life. Because I do not want my diagnosis to be a self-fulfilling prophecy.' Barker explained. ‘I want to survive, and I will survive, and I'm going to. And so are you. That's the beauty of it, so are you. If you're with me, you're in good hands. Thank you.’
It's all too easy to see a snapshot of a star, on one of the biggest television series in the world, and forget that they too are human beings. Ruby’s video is an important watch and a much-needed reminder to love yourself and put your health – mental, not just physical - above all else.
For more help on mental health visit Mind.orgor the NHS website.