STEPHEN FRY HAS frankly discussed his struggle with bipolar disorder in a television documentary, revealing how his condition and the pressures of fame have led him to battle with suicidal thoughts.
The writer, actor and broadcaster described the incessant demands of fame as tiring and isolating: “It is exhausting knowing that most of the time the phone rings, most of the time there’s an email, most of the time there’s a letter, someone wants something of you. They want to touch the hem of the fame, not the hem of the person”.
Fry openly discussed his fears about his condition and explained that his specific mood disorder, called cyclothymic disorder – a mild form of bipolar disorder – was serious despite of the term ‘bipolar light’, which is sometimes flippantly applied to it:
“It’s a morbid condition and any doctor will tell you it’s one of the most serious morbid conditions… The fact that I am lucky enough not to have it so seriously doesn’t mean I won’t one day kill myself – I may well,” he said.
Fry said that although he was usually slow to discuss his mental condition in public, for fear critics could dismiss it as a “celebrity designer accessory problem”, he nevertheless felt compelled to talk about it “for the sake of those millions out there whose lives are utterly blighted”.
Fry said there was a common perception that ‘only celebrities’ discuss mental illness – but insisted this was due to stigma being attached to such conditions, which leads many people to feel unwilling to discuss their problems.
The writer came close to taking his own life after walking out of the West End play Cell Mates in 1995. He was feared dead after he left Britain by ferry, however he turned up in Belgium one week later. The Daily Mail reports that he had considered taking his life at the time, but later said “I had this image of my parents staring right in at me… so I decided not to do it”.
During the documentary, In Confidence, the 53-year-old also talks about his 15-year addiction to cocaine.
