Frankie Bridge details why she speaks to her kids about her mental health
Frankie Bridge has detailed how she speaks to her children about her mental health difficulties.
The Saturdays singer shares two children – sons Parker (11) and Carter (9) – with her husband, retired footballer Wayne Bridge.
In recent years, Frankie has remained open with her fanbase about her struggles with anxiety and depression. Now, the mother-of-two has shared a further glimpse on how she copes with her diagnoses at home.
Speaking to Kaye Adams on Loose Women: The Podcast, the 36-year-old explained how she speaks to her children about her mental health.
“It's a hard one because I feel like my answer should be that they know everything. I feel like I should have had the conversation with them, that I do suffer with depression and anxiety, but I think it's a hard conversation to have with them because I don't know how much of it they really understand,” Frankie stated.
“I think the anxiety side they know about, because my youngest often talks to me about anxiety and that's quite an open conversation that we have… But depression, I feel like is harder to explain,” she admitted.
Frankie then went on to recall one moment where Carter caught her in “the depths of despair”.
“I was having a particularly bad day and I was just really, really crying. He came in and I just completely panicked… And he said, ‘Mummy, are you okay? What's wrong?’ and I just said, ‘Oh, I've got a really bad migraine’. He kind of accepted that and said, ‘Oh, I hope you feel better,’ and kind of left,” Frankie detailed.
“I didn't really realise how much that had sat with him until my birthday a couple of months ago. Wayne said to me, ‘Look, there's a present that Carter wanted me to get for you.’ When I opened it, it was two boxes of ibuprofen and he said to Wayne, ‘Should we get her something that can help with migraines because she gets them really bad, doesn't she?’” the Loose Women panelist revealed.
“I just thought that was so sweet but then I thought, I'm really going to have to explain this to him. Otherwise, every time when he's growing up, someone cries, he’s going to think they've got a migraine,” Frankie concluded.
