Helen Flanagan thanks fans for their ‘lovely’ messages after revealing she was diagnosed with psychosis following Scott Sinclair split

Helen Flanagan took to Instagram on Thursday to thank fans for their ‘beautiful messages of support’ after being diagnosed with psychosis.

The actress, 33, revealed she was diagnosed with psychosis after having a “bad reaction” to her ADHD medication.

In a lengthy post on Instagram, the mother-of-three explained that she was “struggling emotionally” with her divorce from ex Scott Sinclair and the demands of life as a single mother.

In a new post, Helen told her 1 million followers: ‘I just wanted to thank you so much for all your lovely messages.

“It probably sounds really weird, but I was a little nervous about my post yesterday, I felt a little anxious, which probably sounds weird. But yeah, thanks for the messages.”

The day before she told her followers: ‘So basically I was really struggling with mental health in December/January’

Alongside a smiling selfie, Helen continued: ‘I felt really out of sorts over Christmas and I didn’t feel all that different when I took the kids away for New Year. There were a lot of difficult things going on, things I just can’t talk about on Instagram.”

Helen explained that she felt extra pressure while rehearsing for her Cluedo 2 tour:

‘I was feeling terrible so I needed a theater tour which I was so excited about so when I got back from holiday I thought it would be best for me to take some medicine so I would feel better and get better I was able to cope with the fact that I was a working single mother of three children and I had emotional difficulties with the breakup with the father of my children.’

‘But I reacted very badly to the medication (an ADHD medication) and that put me into a psychosis for a few days that I didn’t know I was in.’

“I just love my kids so much. However, this bad reaction was a few days before rehearsals started and unfortunately I wasn’t mentally well enough to do it.’

‘I was heartbroken because I have always been professional as an actress, but I had to stay home and feel better for me and my children, with the help of my wonderful parents ‘

She ended her post by saying, “I’ve always been honest here and I’m in a really nice place now. therapy can be great and I feel like I’ve been working on myself with things that were quite difficult for me, but I feel lighter now. By all means, send love and please be kind.”

In February it was announced that Helen was being replaced by Strictly star Ellie Leach on the Cluedo 2 tour.

However, Helen still made sure to support the show as she headed into the production, which now stars her former Coronation Street colleague on Wednesday.

Helen posted a sweet photo of the pair and said: ‘Miss Scarlett @ellielouiseleach you were unreal. the show was amazing @cluedostageplay you must see it’.

Helen and Scott ended their relationship in 2022 after spending 13 years together.

The pair share daughters Matilda, seven, and Delilah, five, as well as son Charlie, two, and remain co-parents together.

After a few months’ hiatus from social media, Helen returned with a major catch-up for her followers as she shared a series of adorable photos of her children.

Captioning the post: ‘Life recently’ the star showed off beautiful candid snaps of her children as they played together with their mother.

The star has previously spoken about their co-parenting and described it as ‘pretty drama-free’, insisting they have done everything they can to make things easier on the children since their split.

She told The Sun: “I co-parent with Scott. We were together for a long time. So he lives with his mother in Bristol and I live with the kids in Manchester. I get along really well with Scott’s mom.

‘I was with Scott between the ages of 19 and 31, which is why I get on so well with his mother. Honestly, it makes my life so easy because we hang out together. It’s really fun. It’s pretty drama-free because I get along with her really well.

‘The children see their father all the time, they see their grandmother a lot. We are always in Birmingham a lot to meet the children halfway.’

Meanwhile, Helen has also been open about her previous health struggles, after speaking out last October about her battle with postnatal depression, OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder) and intrusive thoughts.

She admitted that circumstances forced her to spend a year in therapy as she “struggled a lot” after the birth of two of her children.

The mother of three posted a photo of herself breastfeeding her youngest child as she described her struggles.

Although the actress posed with a smile on her face, she revealed that she chose that photo because while she looked instantly happy, she was really struggling.

She captioned the post: “Mental health. It’s important to talk and know you’re not alone, and to be kind, as kind as you can, because life is so complicated.

‘I had a lot of trouble with the postnatal care after Matilda and with Charlie x Matilda I was very ill afterwards. I was really struggling with obsessive-compulsive disorder and intrusive thoughts, and I had a good year of x cognitive behavioral therapy.”

Helen has also been open about the challenges of single parenthood, after first revealing last December that she was not spending Christmas with her three children this year.

She explained that the children would spend the holidays with their father and mother in Bath, while she stayed in Bolton.

Speaking to Closer, she said: ‘My kids really miss their dad and they have a really good relationship with their grandma, so they’re going to spend Christmas with them.

“I won’t have them for the next four days.” It will actually be the first Christmas that I don’t have children.’