I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! is back with a bunch of new celebrities entering the jungle, and one is already getting a lot of attention. Comedian, author, and presenter Ruby Wax, who was voted to do the first Bucktucker Trial along with Angry Ginge, has sparked a lot of chatter on social media with viewers eager to know more about her and her mental health journey, which she’s been vocal about across her decades-long career.
We’ve already taken a deep dive into who Ruby Wax is (including her infamous ‘car crash’ interview with Madonna), and here we’ve rounded up everything she’s said about mental health…
What disorder does Ruby Wax have?
Ruby Wax has spoken openly about having bipolar disorder and depression. According to the NHS, bipolar disorder “is a mental health condition where you have extreme mood changes.”
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Per the NHS, those with bipolar disorder sometimes have either high moods, during which they feel very happy, excited, or energetic or low moods, during which they feel sad, tired, or hopeless. “These moods usually last a few days or weeks at a time,” the NHS explains. “If you have bipolar disorder, you will usually have times where your mood is stable and you do not have any symptoms. This can last for weeks, months, or years.”
How does Ruby Wax treat her bipolar disorder?
Ruby Wax has successfully managed her bipolar disorder and depression using traditional medication, and has described the likes of antidepressants and antipsychotics as “vital”. She has also spent time at mental health clinics, like The Priory, and has posted about undergoing repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS), which uses pulsing magnetic fields to activate or suppress the brain centres associated with medical and psychiatric disorders, according to the NHS.
“It’s what saved me,” Ruby previously said on Instagram of the treatment as she opened the rTMS Unit at Mersey Care in Liverpool. In a different social media post, she explained more about rTMS: “It uses a magnetic pulse that whacks your neurons into action, like rebooting a stalled car.”
What has Ruby Wax said about mental health?Ruby on what depression feels like
“I thought it was a physical disease,” Ruby told Louis Theroux of how she misunderstood depression until she reached her thirties, despite having had it since her teenage years. “You sort of go to sleep, but your body’s moving. That’s what depression feels like… You’re gone. Nobody’s home.”
During particularly bad bouts of depression, Ruby explained that something as simple as moving her arm feels like a “miracle” and the thought of taking a shower is “inconceivable”.
Ruby on the invisibility of depression
Ruby has previously said one of the biggest struggles of having depression is that it’s invisible to outsiders. “I feel a lot of shame that there is nothing wrong with you on the outside,” she explained, per Time to Change. “You don’t have any lumps, or you don’t have any scars,” she went on, adding this sometimes means: “Nobody will believe you, and that is the kind of horror of it all.”
The invisibility of depression is something she also wrote about in her book, I’m Not As Well As I Thought. In it, she recalls giving a talk over Zoom about depression, while being in a mental health clinic herself at the time. “I try to adjust the camera so no one can tell I’m in a mental clinic, but a large hospital bed might be a giveaway,” she wrote. “I talk for an hour about stigma and why we should break it, while leaving out the elephant in the room. That’s me, who has depression, and isn’t mentioning it.”
She continued: “At one point during the Q&A someone asks: ‘How do you know when someone has depression?’ I should have shoved my face in the camera and said, ‘It looks like this,’ but I didn’t.”
Ruby Wax on mindfulness as a treatment
As well as traditional methods of treatment, Ruby has turned to mindfulness to help manage her mental health. “I was curious as to what would actually get the best results as far as changing your brain,” she previously told The Sunday Morning Herald, adding that she discovered mindfulness has a similar impact on the mind as going to the gym “every day”.
Mindfulness for Ruby helps with her ability to focus, breathe, and better react to difficult situations. “Sometimes, when a situation is stressful and I could have a trigger reaction, I can hold it back for a few seconds,” she revealed, explaining that, through mindfulness, “you can become the driver of your thoughts” rather than being “driven by them”.
“With mindfulness practice, you eventually tame, calm, and befriend that bucking bronco of a mind, gently taking the reins and steering it where you want,” she added on Instagram of this method. “If you’re self-critical and demanding, not only do you suffer but you admonish yourself for your suffering.”
She went on: “When the mind gets agitated and negative, if you are patient and gentle with yourself, it eventually settles down and you experience something we call peace and, at best, happiness.”
Ruby on her Frazzled UK charity
As part of her mental health advocacy, Ruby founded (and is now a patron of) the mental health service, Frazzled. Per Instagram, Frazzled is “a mental wellbeing charity hosting free online spaces for people to listen, share, and connect.”
“Feeling heard, to me, has always been half the cure,” Ruby said of why she founded Frazzled, adding that another driver was “the pressure of trying to keep up with those we think are handling everything perfectly.”
“The reality is, people don’t admit how hard life can be, so we don’t share how we really feel and let the frazzle build up until we eventually burn out,” she went on. “This is what motivated me to create Frazzled in 2017, and today, this free service is available to anyone 365 days a year.”
According to its website, Frazzled “is a community based on the power of emotional openness and vulnerability. A space where anyone can come and be listened to, or simply listen, without judgment or solutions.”
Ruby on how she “stays sane”
Speaking on Instagram, Ruby opened up about one of the ways she “stays sane”.
“I know you’ve heard it a thousand times, but get out of your house,” she said. “Walking in nature, not only grounds you but helps you let go of some of those nagging voices which are frequent visitors in my own head.”
“After a walk, you might realise how much you’re driven by thoughts, which are as fickle as the wind. They aren’t solid, nor are they facts. They come and go like weather conditions,” Ruby continued. “Some are thunderly, sunny, rainy, and foggy. They come and go, unless you latch onto one of them, and then you’re caught in the hamster wheel of rumination.”
She went on: “If you learn to observe your thoughts, rather than obey them, you’re free. Even better, you’re truly evolved if you’re able to laugh at them. So get out there and smell the roses, listen to the birds, or feel the breeze on your face. This is the only way to come to your senses. And if you can come to one of your senses, you’re present, and that’s the gift of all gifts. Look after yourself.”
Ruby on becoming a psychotherapist
To better understand her mind and her mental health, Ruby has studied psychotherapy and has a master’s degree in mindfulness-based cognitive therapy. “Once you start studying, you do understand what’s going on inside your brain,” she said, per Positive News. “It really helps.”
When life is difficult, Samaritans are here – day or night, 365 days a year. You can call them for free on 116 123, email them at jo@samaritans.org, or visit samaritans.org to find your nearest branch.
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Jade Biggs (she/her) is one of Cosmopolitan UK’s freelance writers, working across all sections including entertainment, beauty, body, and sex and relationships. She previously held the position of Features Writer, covering everything from breaking news and the latest royal gossip, to the health and fitness trends taking over your TikTok feed. Jade has a degree in journalism and has been a journalist and content editor for ten years, interviewing leading researchers, high-profile influencers, and industry experts in that time. She is a cat mom to four fur babies and is obsessed with Drag Race, bottomless brunches, and wearing clothes only suitable for Bratz dolls. Follow her on Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn.