The Irish writer of 13 novels, including Watermelon, Sushi For Beginners and Rachel’s Holiday, said she fought against suicidal urges up to 40 times a day in the depths of her mental illness.
She battled depression for 18 months and tried every possible remedy, including medication, cognitive behaviour therapy, meditation and attending mass, and said nothing worked but the passage of time.
Talking to Kirsty Young on BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs, she said: “I stopped being able to sleep and eat, I couldn’t have conversations…and I ended up going into a psychiatric hospital.
“Suicidal impulses started and it was very hard to physically stop myself from going through with it, for months.
“It’s an illness and it ran its course. Three years ago, at the start of 2014, it was like coming up from the bottom of the ocean. It was really speedy.”
Keyes, 53, who has been sober for 23 years, also detailed her recovery from alcoholism in her youth, telling Young: “Alcohol was the love of my life. It was my best friend and in the end, my only friend.”
She penned her first short story months before entering a recovery programme.
Desert Island Discs, BBC Radio 4, today, 11.15am.
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