MEDICATION STREET...

Blimey what's happening to the cast of Corrie these days? They all seem to be writing autobiographies exposing their long-standing mental health problems. Beverley Callard who plays Rovers landlady Liz McDonald has revealed she has received treatment for depression following a nervous breakdown.  Former landlady Natalie Barnes played by Loose Women's Denise Welsh has also spoken publicly of her long history of clinical depression stemming from post-natal depression suffered after the birth of her son. She speaks of previously being driven to the point of suicide and suffering numerous panic attacks. And now, Ian Puleston-Davies who plays the Street's newest character builder Owen Armstrong, has revealed he has OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder). I read one newspaper account that when the actor plays a scene in the Rovers, he firstly checks his pint glass numerous times to confirm the glass rim won't tear his lip or chip his teeth. 
I'm pleased that 'celebrities' are open about mental illness. So often, it is still perceived as a stigma and something to be ashamed of. By bringing it into the open, it's hoped that mental illness is 'normalised', it knows no boundaries and it affects 1 in 4 of us. Publicity reveals that celebrities are not immune from it either. 
I shall wait in baited breath for the christmas autobiographies and chat show circuit revealing Betty Driver's schizophrenia, Jack P Shepherd's alzheimers or Schmeichal's brush with Bipolar disorder. Now that would be interesting....