Frankie Bridge has admitted that her 2012 hospitalisation was a 'God-send' when battling depression as it allowed her time to 'check in' with her diagnosis.
The Saturdays singer, who was forced to take a hiatus from the band at the time, said that while she relishes using her voice to raise awareness now, she initially feared becoming the 'poster girl for depression'.
The 30-year-old, who is currently writing her first book Open, appeared on the podcast Verified Views amid Mental Health Awareness Week and reflected on how far she's come seven years on.
Brave: Frankie Bridge has admitted that her 2012 hospitalisation was a 'God-send' when battling depression as it allowed her time to 'check in' with her diagnosis
Explaining how she was 'born a worrier', Frankie said: 'I've always had anxiety and I think back when I was really suffering people didn’t know about anxiety and depression.
'I genuinely believe if that was me now maybe it wouldn’t have escalated into me hospitalised when I was.
Adding: 'That was kind of a bit of God send for me going into hospital because it just gave me time to check out and check in with myself and to understand what mental health was.
'You can feel like it controls you and that’s what had happened to me. I felt I had control over it at one point and all of sudden I didn’t. For me, knowledge was the key to understand what’s happening to your body physically when you’re having a panic attack.'
Then: In 2012 she revealed she had been battling depression, after she was forced to take a hiatus from the Saturdays during which she was hospitalised for treatment (Pictured with her band in 2012)
Candid: The Saturdays singer said that while she relishes using her voice to raise awareness now, she initially feared becoming the 'poster girl for depression'
The Mind ambassador, who explained how her depression is caused by a chemical imbalance, admitted she found it difficult to share that she was on medication for fear of people thinking she was 'the poster girl for being depressed'.
Frankie added that she felt she owed it to her fans to share her mental health diagnosis after believing she was living a 'lie'.
She continued: 'The fact
