Wanted actor Rebecca Gibney has revealed that she suffered from a “constant battle with depression” in her 30s.
The new interview with the 52-year-old Kiwi-born star, published on Yahoo7 Be, included talk about the secret to her successful marriage, and the damaging unrealistic expectations that are placed upon young people.
“I had a nervous breakdown and emotional collapse in my early 30s so I just let it build up and build up,” Gibney says in the interview.
She admits that she was reluctant to face the cause of her panic attacks, and kept up a persona that was far from how she truly felt.
“It was ultimately a self-loathing that I developed from quite a young age,” she says. “I didn’t love myself. In fact, I hated myself; I was crumbling on the inside.”
Gibney spoke out earlier this year about being brought up in a family that was affected by domestic violence, noting that most would never be able to tell what was going on based on the “happy snaps” that were taken during the time.
“No one would know that we were being raised in a family of domestic violence,” Gibney wrote in an Instagram caption.
The Packed to the Rafters actor feels that young people are reluctant to ask for help even if they’re “desperately unhappy”, because being in the public eye requires them to keep up a perfect façade.
These days, Gibney has the love and support of her husband, Richard Bell. While celebrity marriages can be fleeting, with scheduling conflicts and time apart making for a rocky relationship, Gibney’s 17-year marriage seems to benefit from a busy schedule.
Bell is also a producer, with whom Gibney often works closely.
“We are quite lucky because we work together a lot so we are on the road a lot, and quite often we’ll find ourselves in beautiful hotels or amazing places for dinner so it’s easy to keep the romance alive,” Gibney says in the interview.
But the most important thing, the star says, is having “complete and utter respect” for your partner and learning to compromise.