NATALIE Imbruglia has opened up on receiving new mental health diagnoses while managing perimenopause.
The 51-year-old Aussie star who is best known for her hit single, Torn, revealed she was diagnosed with OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder) and ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder).
She was also dealing with the effects of perimenopause which made her “really angry” and would contribute to her anxiety before performing.
“You name it, there’s a sprinkle of it. They’re just labels. It’s not a negative, it’s my superpower,” she told The Sunday Times.
“But there’s a particular thing about my neurodiversity that’s hard for me to accept, which is how I get when I’m nervous before a show. Perimenopause made it worse.”
Natalie added: “Let’s just say it was a grieving process. I was really angry. I fell off a cliff. It felt like someone had taken some of my personality.”
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The singer and actress reached out to TV presenter Davina McCall, who has been a public menopause campaigner, for advice after battling feelings of “anger and anxiety.”
Natalie is now on HRT (hormone replacement therapy) which has helped her symptoms and she’s glad the topic has become less “shameful or taboo.”
Perimenopause refers to the time during which your body makes the natural transition to menopause, thus marking the end of a woman’s reproductive years.
A woman may begin transitioning sometime in her 40s. However, this transitional period happens at a different age for every woman, and it could happen as early as mid-30s.
Natalie rose to fame on Neighbours in the early 1990s and in 1997 kicked off her pop career with a cover of the Ednaswap song Torn.
Natalie has also appeared in the films Johnny English, Closed for Winter and Underdogs.
She has sold 10 million records worldwide, and is believed to have a net worth of around £10 million.
In 2019, Natalie revealed she had given birth to a son, Max Valentine whom she welcomed via IVF and a sperm donor.