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Alexis Denisof's Ex Receiving Shock Therapy
Bad news for Alexis as his ex girlfriend is not having a good time. |
Caroline Aherne is recuperating after having electric shock treatment for severe depression.
The 41-year-old actress, who wrote and starred in TV's The Royle Family and The Mrs Merton Show, had the aggressive form of therapy to cure mental problems which have dogged her for years.
Electro-convulsive therapy - endured by Jack Nicholson in the 1975 movie One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest - is delivered under anaesthetic and involves a small electrical current being passed though the brain.
It can be an effective last-resort treatment, but can also be distressing and unpleasant, causing the body to convulse violently.
Miss Aherne, however, is reported to have told friends she feels 'much better' following the treatment.
She has been out visiting friends and no longer suffers from agoraphobia.
She is said to have spent a fortune fighting mental problems brought on by a string of personal tragedies - including manic depression, a suicide attempt, bereavement, alcoholism and doomed loved affairs.
Manic depression
She has moved back to the Manchester area to be closer to her family and is said to be making a speedy recovery from the treatment - apparently even joking about it.
Miss Aherne's life first took a downturn in 1994 when her father Bert died. The labourer and alcoholic was said to be the inspiration behind her character Jim Royle.
That year, she married New Order guitarist Peter Hook. The marriage did not work out, however, and Hook famously had a fist fight with her next boyfriend, film maker Matt Bowers, who later died of cancer.
Suicide attempt
In 1995, Miss Aherne found success with Mrs Merton and The Royle Family was launched three years later. That year also brought the most dramatic episode in her life - a suicide attempt.
After splitting with lover Alexis Denisof, Miss Aherne took a cocktail of pills and champagne but was found in her London flat by her mother Maureen.
She was admitted to The Priory clinic in Roehampton, South-West London, and spent four weeks being treated for manic depression.
Doomed love affairs
Speaking of the incident later, Miss Aherne said: "I try to piece together what I did and why I did it - but it's just a big blackout. I remember buying champagne and the next thing I woke up in hospital."
The following year brought three more debilitating bouts of depression. In 2000, Miss Aherne talked about the background to her problems, saying: "There was my divorce, my dad dying, Matt dying and I was trying to cope with being famous.
"It was too much for me. I can't say I'll never drink again because nobody knows, but I hope I'll never get drunk again because I've got this terrible fear I might end up doing what I did before.
"And I'd never let that happen because of the hurt I caused other people."
In 2001, Miss Aherne announced she was quitting British showbusiness and moved to Australia where she dated local businessman Brett Whitford.
The couple planned to marry but Miss Aherne returned to the UK alone after she threw her ring and a glass of champagne at him during a row in Paris.
Two more spells in The Priory followed. In recent years, she has became increasingly reclusive, keeping in touch with only a tiny circle of family and trusted friends.
This story first appeared in the . For more great stories like this, buy the Daily Mail every day.
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