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Tanya Bardsley admitted she ‘needed to go to rehab before I ended up in a box’ as she opened up about her lifelong mental health battle on Monday.
The former The Real Housewives Of Cheshire star, 42, who has had three suicide attempts, reached her breaking point in 2022 after continuously ‘self-medicating and abusing alcohol’.
The terrifying spiral of ‘drinking alcohol, feelings anxious and having suicidal thoughts’ is what pushed the reality star into jetting off to Thailand to check into rehab.
She told OK! magazine: ‘I was on a hamster wheel of death. The effects of drinking on my brain were just horrific and would last for days.
‘I’d drink, feel anxious and have suicidal thoughts. I’d then drink again to ease it and have more suicidal thoughts.
‘I was a ticking time bomb’: Tanya Bardsley admitted she ‘needed to go to rehab before I ended up in a box’ as she opened up about her lifelong mental health battle on Monday
Pre-rehab: The former The Real Housewives Of Cheshire star, 42, who has had three suicide attempts, reached her breaking point in 2022 after continuously ‘self-medicating and abusing alcohol’ (pictured in 2022)
‘I was getting deeper and deeper. That was when I told Phil I needed to go to rehab before I ended up in a box.’
The WAG is wed to former Manchester United star Phil Bardsley and they share three children – Rocco, 13, Renz, nine, and Ralphi, six. Tanya also has a daughter Gabriella, 21, from a previous relationship.
The TV personality did not tell her kids where she was going and checked in to the facility for four weeks which she noted was ‘the best decision’ she’s ever made.
She has now been five months sober and said going to events and not drinking alcohol has really helped ‘build up her confidence’ again but can only last a few hours before people become annoying.
Since rehab Tanya now makes sure she gets eight hours of sleep, exercises regularly and meditates every evening.
The RHWC star admitted she ‘was a ticking time bomb’ before and is determined to stay on track now.
Tanya, who was finally diagnosed with ADHD in 2021, said she has always ‘felt different and out of place’ and after being diagnosed everything started to make sense for her and she ‘suddenly didn’t feel alone anymore’.
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Tanya said she ‘felt hopeless’ dealing with her mental health before rehab and was prescribed antidepressants and ADHD medication.
‘I was on a hamster wheel of death’: The terrifying spiral of ‘drinking alcohol, feelings anxious and having suicidal thoughts’ is what pushed the reality star into jetting off to Thailand to check in to rehab
She told OK! magazine: ‘I was on a hamster wheel of death. The effects of drinking on my brain were just horrific. I was getting deeper and deeper. That was when I told Phil I needed to go to rehab before I ended up in a box’
Family: The WAG is wed to former Manchester United star Phil Bardsley and they share three children – Rocco, 13, Renz, nine, and Ralphi, six. Tanya also has a daughter Gabriella, 21, from a previous relationship
However, she came off the medication as it made her symptoms of erratic emotions, forgetfulness and anxiety, worse which is when she turned to booze.
She said that alcohol ‘really helped me numb everything’ and gave her ‘relief’ however, the ‘beer fear’ became so unbearable that she kept drink causing a vicious cycle.
By Christmas 2022, Tanya recognised she could no longer continue living that way as the lifestyle was going to have fatal results.
According to the NHS, the exact cause of ADHD is unknown but the condition has been shown to run in families.
Since being diagnosed herself she has noticed her own traits of restlessness in her son Rocco, 14, who unlike her has had a positive response to medication.
Elsewhere in the interview, Tanya revealed that she will not be returning to The Real Housewives Of Cheshire full-time as she doesn’t want to be apart of any drama.
She said she has now ‘found a good balance and is scared of jeopardising that’ by returning to the ITV reality series.
For confidential 24/7 support in the UK, call Samaritans on 116 123 or visit a local Samaritans branch, see www.samaritans.org for details.
Sober: The TV personality checked in for four weeks which she noted was ‘the best decision’ she’s ever made and has now been five months sober and makes sure she gets eight hours of sleep, exercises regularly and meditates
