Melissa Suffield has admitted she has been struggling with her mental health in a candid Instagram post on Wednesday.
The former EastEnders star, who played Lucy Beale in the BBC soap for six years until 2010, admitted she has been ‘consumed with constant fear and dread’.
Alongside a picture of her five-year-old son River, she wrote: ‘I’m not going to lie gang, my mental health isn’t great at the moment.
‘Just finding myself consumed with anxieties that I never used to have and a kind of constant fear and dread as a result.
‘Really need to shake it ideally because it’s starting to p*** me off. You know me, I’m always going to be honest with you – and that includes when things aren’t so rosy.
‘I’m fine, but also just very stressed and overwhelmed a lot of the time and it’s not like me.
Melissa Suffield, 32, has admitted she has been struggling with her mental health in a candid Instagram post on Wednesday
The former EastEnders star, who played Lucy Beale in the BBC soap for six years until 2010, admitted she has been ‘consumed with constant fear and dread’
‘But, took River to see Back To The Future today at the cinema on his inset day and that was lovely because I’ve always loved that film, and it was great sharing that with him – and I bought a really camp Christmas wreath for the door.
‘I also booked a really exciting thing for next year.’
Melissa recently sought help from a specialist to ‘fix her messed up body’ after suffering with ‘pain in her back and hips.’
The soap star, who gave birth to her son River in March 2020, has been dealing with postnatal pain ever since.
Sharing a clip to Instagram last month, she documented her trip to CiONE Wellness Centre on Harley St, in London, as she works on correcting the issues.
In the post titled, ‘come with me to fix my messed up body,’ Melissa explained how she has gone to get some insoles fitted in her shoes to help with her posture.
The TV star is well-known for being a vocalist of body-positivity matters, and often uses her platform to raise awareness on real beauty standards.
She explained: ‘I’ve been suffering with persistent pain in my back and hips. There are points on my back that are proper wonky. These plates will help stabilise that.’
Alongside a picture of her five-year-old son River, she wrote: ‘I’m not going to lie gang, my mental health isn’t great at the moment’
Melissa recently sought help from a specialist to ‘fix her messed up body’ after suffering with ‘pain in her back and hips’
Melissa played Lucy Beale in the BBC soap for six years until 2010 (pictured)
She continued: ‘My body has learned to reprogram the way that I walk and move to make it less painful for me.
‘But all that’s done is create more issues. So, there’s a lot of correcting to do and it’s starting at the feet.’
In the caption, Melissa added: ‘Maternal pain is one of those things we don’t get a huge amount of support for as standard, and we’re sort of expected to just get on with it and adapt. Which is what I’d done for years. But actually, that isn’t ok.
‘Learning that I was hypermobile and visiting specialists like Tim has been really eye opening and is allowing me to actually imagine a world where I might be able to wake up without feeling stiff and in pain.
‘I’ll go back for a check up in a few weeks and we can see what progress I’ve made. Would you like to see more of this journey (including some of the BONKERS treatment I get). Let me know if you have any questions!’
The health update comes after Melissa compared her life to a ‘sick joke’ as she explained despite taking steps to be healthy, she’s feeling sicker than ever amid her chronic illness battle.
The former EastEnders star was diagnosed with small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) after feeling nauseous for months, with doctors struggling to find the cause.
And as a result she admitted she wasn’t ‘feeling very festive this year’ and won’t even get to indulge in a Christmas dinner.
Speaking to The Sun, Melissa said: ‘Last year I cooked a Christmas dinner and didn’t eat any of it. For me, I would say about 80% of the joy comes from all the food. So I’m not feeling very festive this year.’
She went on to explain how she had been at her healthiest this year, after making sure she only drank water and prepared all her food at home.
However, she said despite these measures, she’d ‘never been sicker’ and lamented that things were ‘very bleak’.
Melissa said: ‘This is on paper, this year I’ve been healthier than I’ve been ever in my life before. I get an okay amount of sleep. I’ve got loads of like vitamins and minerals that my body needs going in, and I’ve never been sicker in my life.”
‘Have not had a drop of alcohol and like, look at the state of me! It’s just a bit of a sick joke, so like so healthy on paper, and so unhealthy in reality. It’s very bleak, I would say, quite bleak.’
