Frankie Bridge has opened up about not being able to drive while on ketamine therapy medication.
Since last year, the Loose Women star and member of The Saturdays has been sharing weekly vlogs on her YouTube channel. In her videos, she documents her family life, business endeavours, and day-to-day activities with viewers.
In her latest video shared today (February 9), Frankie has issued a health update.
Frankie Bridge on taking ketamine therapy medication
While filming herself on a Tuesday, Frankie revealed that “today is Ket day”. According to Top Doctors, Ketamine, originally developed as an anaesthetic, “has been found to have rapid-acting antidepressant effects”.
Ketamine Therapy is a “treatment that involves the administration of low doses of ketamine through an intravenous (IV) drip”.
Over the years, the 37-year-old has been very vocal about her battle with depression and anxiety.
As Frankie filmed herself getting ready to leave the house, the All Fired Up hitmaker said she had just dropped her two sons — Parker, 12 and Carter, 10, who she shares with husband Wayne Bridge — off to school.
“I am just waiting for my cab to pick me up because, obviously, I am not allowed to drive on Ketty day,” she explained.
While packing her “essentials”, Frankie said she has an eye mask, which she wears while on the IV drip.
Even though it was a gloomy day, she admitted she would be taking black sunglasses with her because the ketamine makes her feel “really sensitive to light”.
Due to not being able to drive herself home, Frankie also confessed that she felt “self-conscious” of the driver looking at her.
The singer said she hadn’t had ketamine therapy for a while now, but typically has “six in a row”. However, her doctor insisted she should have a seventh lot for a “top up”.
When she needed to have it done back-to-back, Frankie said it was a “stressful” trying to fit it into her busy schedule.
“It takes so much of my time,” she expressed.
‘I’m disappointed that I still need it’
A few days later, Frankie revealed she needed to continue having ketamine appointments to “keep me on track”.
However, upon speaking to her therapist, she stated she was “disappointed that I still need it”. She explained that some people “have it and never need it again”.
Looking on the positive side, Frankie was assured to see it as a way of working on herself and “discovering” who she is.
Frankie Bridge has never shied away from talking about her mental health and depression.
While in The Saturdays, the singer admitted she reached breaking point and struggled. As a result, she checked herself into a specialist mental health hospital in 2011.
Frankie Bridge checks into mental health hospital
“I’d reached a point where I couldn’t cope with everyday life,” she told BBC Radio 1 Newsbeat in 2020.
“I was constantly crying and telling my partner [footballer Wayne Bridge] that I didn’t really want to be here anymore.”
At the time, Frankie had already committed to filming a music video shoot in Iceland. Frankie and her manager came to an agreement that she’d keep working and be admitted when the two-day shoot was over.
“Luckily it was a moody shoot so I didn’t have to put on this happy, smiley front,” she admitted.
‘I was anxious from the womb’
While speaking to The Guardian in 2024, Frankie insisted she has been “anxious from the womb”.
“It’s who I am. As a child, my thoughts would happen at night-time: I’d struggle to breathe and have stomach aches,” she continued.
“Depression came in my late teens. The doctor suggested therapy and I was outraged. “I’m British. We don’t do that.” Then I realised anxiety had spilled over into something else.”
Frankie revealed her grandmother gave her the nickname Sunshine and Showers because she was “either happy or low, without much in between”.
Frankie’s book
In 2020, Frankie published a book, OPEN: Why Asking for Help Can Save Your Life, which “opens up about her ongoing journey from breakdown to breakthroughs and through self-loathing, hospitalisation and self-acceptance”.
While promoting the book, Frankie shared with Happiful: “Knowledge is key. Know what is happening to you, find someone you can confide in, and don’t give yourself such a hard time. Remember, a better day is around the corner.”
Read more: Frankie Bridge admits ‘that’s life’ after sharing gross ‘soiling themselves’ story
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