Pop star Mel B has decided to seek treatment for several ailments after what she says has been an “incredibly difficult six months,” The Sun reports.
The “America’s Got Talent” judge disclosed Sunday that she is planning to check into a rehabilitation facility in September for help with alcoholism, sex addiction and post-traumatic stress disorder.
A major reason for the move, she said, was from the pain of having to recall the abuse she experienced in her previous marriage for an upcoming book.
“The past six months have been incredibly difficult for me,” she told The Sun. “I’ve been working with a writer on my book, Brutally Honest, and it has been unbelievably traumatic reliving an emotionally abusive relationship and confronting so many massive issues in my life. I am being very honest about drinking to numb my pain but that is just a way a lot of people mask what is really going on.”
The 43-year-old member of the Spice Girls said she’s come to the realization that she’s at a “crisis point” in her life because she relies on sex and alcohol to deal with these issues.
“Sometimes it is too hard to cope with all the emotions I feel. But the problem has never been about sex or alcohol — it is underneath all that,” Mel B said. “I am fully aware I have been at a crisis point. No one knows myself better than I do — but I am dealing with it.”
The mother of three continued: “I’m not perfect, and I have never pretended to be. But I am working on being a better version of myself for my kids — whom I love more than life itself — and for all the people who have supported me.”
Mel B said the treatment will be at a facility in the United Kingdom and that by talking openly about her challenges, she hopes to encourage others to seek the help they need, too.
“I am still struggling but if I can shine a light on the issue of pain, PTSD and the things men and women do to mask it, I will do,” she told the newspaper. “I am speaking about this because this is a huge issue for so many people.”
[Feature image: Photo by Willy Sanjuan/Invision/AP]
