Natasha Exelby discusses depression battle on Studio 10

Natasha Exelby has opened up about her long-term mental health battle to encourage others to check-in with each other on R U OK? Day today.

Channel 10 newsreader Natasha Exelby has opened up about her battle with depression on live TV to coincide with R U OK? Day.

The media personality spoke candidly about her mental health with Studio 10 viewers on Thursday, sharing that she “spent hours and hours” crying on Sunday “for no reason”.

The 34-year-old said she’s “danced with the depression devil” for years, telling host Tristan MacManus that while she was doing “great” on Thursday, Sunday was a different story.

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Natasha Exelby opened up about her struggled on Studio 10.

“I think R U OK? Day is so important. I’ve been deliberately pretty open with the fact that I’ve danced with the depression devil for 24 years,” Natasha said of the national day advocating for Australians to connect with others in the community to raise awareness for suicide prevention.

“I hope we don’t just do this [talk openly about mental health] as a one-off,” she continued.

“Mental illness is an illness.

“If I have to have a day off because I have tonsillitis, I’ve got to have a day off because I’m fighting depression.

“We’ve come a long way, but we’ve still got a long way to go.”

The former I’m A Celebrity … Get Me Out Of Here! contestant has been open about her mental health journey in the past, telling viewers on an episode of Studio 10 last November that she was “hanging out with insomnia quite a bit lately” but “hoping it’s just a fling”.

Natasha was first diagnosed with depression at 15.

The journalist has been candid about her mental illness over the years.

She went on to explain that she’d been battling post-traumatic stress disorder after covering war zones in the Middle East, assuring those with similar mental struggles that they’re “not alone”.

“I want people to know they’re not alone … get help, the sunshine does come,” she said.

Natasha brought the discussion to her Instagram followers in a further effort to break down stigma, revealing she’s been on medication and in therapy for years since she was 15.

“In a time when depression, anxiety and self harm are at record highs, I thought it might be helpful to show, that if you do feel like you’re drowning, you are NOT ALONE,” she wrote at the time.

“I was diagnosed with major depression at 15 and been on meds ever since and consistent psychiatric therapy and exercise,” she explained.

“You will never be fully cured, but I promise, there’s light at the end of the tunnel … even if it’s an effing long tunnel!! I hope that if you’re reading this and feeling helpless or know someone who is, it will encourage you to get the help you deserve.”

Originally published as Natasha Exelby discusses depression battle on Studio 10