British pop star Frankie Sandford has opened up about her long-running battle with depression.
The Saturdays singer has battled the condition since she was 15, and underwent a stint in a clinic last year (Oct11) to receive professional help after an argument with her soccer ace boyfriend Wayne Bridge.
She tells Britain's Glamour Magazine, "I got upset because Wayne hadn't bought the right yogurts. I managed to convince myself that he didn't know me at all. It set off this spiral of negative thinking - if I disappeared it wouldn't matter to anyone. In fact it would make everyone's life easier. I felt I was worthless, that I was ugly, that I didn't deserve anything...
"It all started when I was about 15 or 16. I used to stay in bed a lot and had no motivation. I thought I was just being lazy. Since childhood I've been an over-thinker. I used to make myself sick with worry. I'd always have stomach aches and breathing problems. I didn't do anything about it until it got to the stage when I was just coming home and going straight to bed. I wouldn't have any dinner, I couldn't talk to anyone."
She is now dealing with the condition with the help of one-on-one counselling during her hospital stint.
Sandford adds, "There was a part of me thinking I was putting it on, that I wasn't properly sick, and only sick people should be in hospital. I thought that since mine was only a mind thing, I should snap out of it. I got so good at covering it up, I didn't confide in anyone. I thought I was selfish, miserable and ungrateful. I'd been given this amazing life, but I wasn't happy. I did lose myself, but I feel like me again now. But I try not to put pressure on myself - it's unrealistic, no one is 100 per cent happy all of the time."