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Sinead O' Connor talks suicide in heartbreaking video

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Sinead O'Connor. (Screengrab: Facebook/Sinead O'Connor)
Sinead O'Connor. (Screengrab: Facebook/Sinead O'Connor)

Cape Town - Troubled Irish singer Sinead O'Connor has sparked fresh fears for her mental health after she posted a disturbing video on her Facebook page. 

In it the 50-year-old weeps while she describes the sad state of her life, saying how she fights to stay alive every day thanks to her ongoing depression.

The star, who rose to fame in the 1980s with her version of Prince's song Nothing Compares 2 U and has 10 studio albums to her name, has fled her native country and is currently based in the US. 

"I am now living in a Travelodge motel in the a**e end of New Jersey. I'm all by myself," she tearfully admits in the the 12-minute long video. 

"I want everyone to know what it's like, that's why I'm making this video. Mental illness, it's like drugs, it doesn't give a s*** who you are, and equally, what's worse, it's the stigma, it doesn't give a s*** who you are.

"Suddenly all the people who are supposed to be loving you and taking care of you are treating you like s***. It's like a witch hunt."

The video immediately sparked fear among her fans. "I go to bed every night worried about you," one  wrote while another posted, "To Sinead's kids get over and help your mother, she is crying out for you all, forget what has happened and forgive, keep forgiving her until you get over there and give her a hug."

The mother-of-four has been open about her struggle with depression, telling Oprah in 2017 that she'd been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and had attempted suicide on her 33rd birthday.

In 2016 she sparked a police search when she failed to return from a bike ride from a suburb in Chicago. She was later found safe at a hotel. Hours later she took to Facebook to claim she'd felt "abandoned". 

The year before she posted on Facebook that she'd taken an overdose. “There is only so much any woman can be expected to bear . . . I have taken an overdose. There is no other way to get respect. I am not at home, I’m at a hotel, somewhere in Ireland, under another name.” She was later found safe. 

No stranger to controversy, the outspoken singer famously tore apart a photo of Pope John Paul II during a Saturday Night Live appearance in 1992, declaring: “Fight the real enemy!”

If you suffer from depression or suicidal thoughts, you can contact the SA Depression and Anxiety Group on their 24hr Helpline 0800 12 13 14 or SMS 31393 (and they will call you back).

Sources: The TelegraphMailOnlineThe Guardian

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