Katie Melua reveals that the psychiatrist who treated her for years after her psychotic breakdown in 2010 took his own life after ‘come under the same illness’
- For confidential support, call Samaritans at 116123 or visit www.samaritans.org
In 2010, Katie Melua was hospitalized after suffering a psychotic breakdown.
And on Friday, the singer, 38, revealed that the psychiatrist who treated her in subsequent years sadly committed suicide after “falling under the same illness.”
Appearing on ITV’s Lorraine, Katie confessed how shocked she was to discover that the ‘wonderful’ doctor who was looking after her had taken his own life last year.
The singer, who made her name in 2003 at the age of 19 with her debut single The Closest Thing To Crazy, revealed how she decided to do something special in his honor.
Katie is donating the proceeds from her new single, 14 Windows, to The Royal Medical Benevolent Fund, the UK charity that helps doctors and medical students.
Sad: On Friday, Katie Melua, 38, revealed that the psychiatrist who treated her in the years following her psychotic breakdown in 2010 took his own life after he ‘fell under the same illness’
Devastating: Appearing on ITV’s Lorraine, Katie confessed how shocked she was to discover the ‘amazing’ doctor who cared for her had taken his own life last year
Tribute: The singer with their powerful voice revealed how she has decided to donate the proceeds from her new single, 14 Windows, to The Royal Medical Benevolent Fund in his honor
Speaking to Ranvir Singh, Katie said: ‘What happened in 2010 was I had a really serious mental health crisis. I’ve talked about it before, so I don’t want to go into too much detail.
“I had a wonderful doctor who took care of me, a psychiatrist. I am therefore very grateful to him.
“I was with him for 2 years. After that I made a full recovery, thank God. I was able to go back to work.
“Now, last year when I was working on the new music I learned that he was suffering from the same illness and sadly took his own life. It shocked me so much because he was so wonderful, and I am so grateful to him.
“So the proceeds from the single will go to the royal benevolent fund.”
In February 2011, Katie revealed to MailOnline that she had been hospitalized due to a battle over her mental health.
“I’ve had a little breakdown and been very unwell. It’s a very sensitive subject. I don’t want to go into too much detail, but I had to take a break.’
Katie’s breakdown led to her being hospitalized for six weeks and put on antidepressants, drugs she continued to take for two years.
Horrible: ‘I heard that he suffered from the same disease and unfortunately took his own life. It just shocked me so much because he was so amazing, and I’m so grateful to him,” Katie said of her psychiatrist
She said, “The fact is, I just couldn’t go on any longer. I knew something was seriously wrong because I was just sitting in a chair staring straight ahead.
‘I had to drop out, go on vacation and rest. The problem is that I love what I do and I can’t stop doing it. But I worked myself into the ground.’
In 2018, she told MailOnline how, during her breakdown, she was so gripped by a psychosis that she felt like she was in an “apocalyptic movie.”
She said, “It came out of the blue. I had never had depression before and we don’t really have a history of it in the family.
“But I absolutely loved it. Not unconscious, but with really terrible paranoia. I couldn’t sleep for I don’t know how many days and had really chronic nightmares, like you’re in an apocalyptic movie.’
The mother of a child gave birth to a baby boy named Sandro, now eight months old, in December. She has not disclosed the identity of her son’s father.
Katie was previously married to world superbike racer James Toseland, and the couple got divorced in 2020 after eight years of marriage.
For confidential support, call Samaritans at 116123 or visit www.samaritans.org