Beverley Callard, who plays Liz McDonald on Coronation Street, was interviewed on ITV's This Morning today where she spoke openly about battling her depression.
She said: "There is still a stigma, people can still think you're flaky or unreliable, but depression can happen to people the opposite of that. They are often people pleasers."
Since 2009 Beverley has battled with severe depression and just last month she was signed off work after she was taken ill.
Beverley spoke to This Morning about her latest bout of depression, how it was brought on by an unexpected stop in her medication, and why she credited her make-up artist friend for saving her life. She also assured fans that she'll be back on set soon.
Beverley told This Morning: "I lose confidence totally. To be honest, to play Liz - you've got to be very brave to put those clothes on, I have to tell you! It was a PVC miniskirt and I just thought: 'Oh my goodness me'. Some days I think: 'Do I really have to wear this?' But that day I just thought: 'I just feel idiotic and maybe I'm not up for doing this anymore'. My confidence had just totally gone.
"Then I looked around on the set and there were all these beautiful females and I just thought: 'I can't do it'. I sat on the Rovers stairs for a little while, while they were moving cameras. I was just crying silently and one of the make-up girls said: 'You need to go home'."
She went to see her doctor and a consultant, but struggled to get the help she needed until her former Coronation Street co-star Denise Welch - (Natalie Horrocks) who has herself battled depression - recommended a London-based expert.
"I came to see a Professor John Studd and he's saved my life. He just got the [medication] balance right and he told me how I was feeling and he was bang on. Denise Welch recommended him. We can go a year without talking to each other and then one of us will say: 'Hi, how are you?' She was amazing."
Beverley urged anyone suffering depression to speak up and seek help.
She said: "I'm back [filming] on the 1st of May - in a PVC skirt I'm sure!"
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