Date: 23rd December 2000

Carrie's Depression Nightmare Revealed


Movie star-turned-writer CARRIE FISHER has spent 20 years coming to terms with severe depression and she admits her moodswings often made her contemplate suicide.

The STAR WARS star's mental problems led to her having a breakdown and made her develop a schizophrenic nature, and she has decided to talk about her hell in a bid to show other sufferers that they're not alone.

She says, "I used to think I was a drug addict, pure and simple just someone who could not stop taking drugs wilfully. But it turns out that I am severely manic depressive. "I have two moods. One is Roy, rollicking Roy, the wild ride of a mood. And Pam, sediment Pam, who stands on the shore and sobs. Sometimes the tide is in, sometimes it's out." "The world of manic depression is a world of bad judgment calls just every kind of bad judgment, because it all seems like a good idea at the time. A great idea. "You can't stop. It's very painful. It's raw when you're not busy talking and trying to drown it out."

(KL/WNV/MCM)

Source: WENN