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Sharon Osbourne Reflects on Past Suicide Attempt and What ‘Shocked’ Her to ‘Get it Together’

Speaking from the heart. Sharon Osbourne opened up about a challenging time in her life and her personal mental health journey in honor of World Mental Health Day.

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During an emotional segment on The Talk on Thursday, October 8, the 68-year-old British TV personality reflected on how she willed herself to keep going after attempting suicide in 2016. Cohosts Carrie Ann Inaba and Sheryl Underwood gave Osbourne their support from beside her on the talk show set, while Eve appeared virtually amid the coronavirus pandemic.

“Four years ago, I was finding things very, very difficult,” the Osbournes alum explained. “I tried to take my life and it wasn’t for attention. I just couldn’t bear it.”

Underwood, 56, shared her own insights as she recalled watching her close friend’s struggle. “I remember that time, and I remember us wanting to give you your space and your privacy,” she said.

Sharon Osbourne Reflects on Past Suicide Attempt: It Was a 'Difficult' Time
Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock

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Osbourne went on to describe her experience receiving treatment for her mental health after facing her low moment and admitted that there was a particular instance that helped her realize that her life was worth living.

“The one thing that shocked me into [thinking], ‘Come on, you’ve got to get it together,’ was there were two girls there with me. They were in there because they were drinking and using drugs,” the former X Factor judge said of the young women, both of whom lost their mothers to suicide. “It messed them up so bad that they couldn’t cope with their life. And that shocked me.”

The Extreme author shares daughters Aimée, 37, and Kelly, 35, and son Jack, 34, with husband Ozzy Osbourne, whom she wed in 1982. Sharon has spoken openly about the ups and downs she’s overcome in the past, detailing her experience with depression during an April 2019 episode of The Talk. Five years prior, she revealed that she had been taking medication for her mental health for over a decade.

“Some days are better than others, and some days you feel like you just want to pull the sheets over your head and just stay in that bed and not do a damn thing,” she said in November 2014.

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Despite her “ongoing battle,” Sharon has learned to look for the positives in her life. “It’s an ongoing thing of realizing how blessed you are and what you got to be happy about in the day and I have so much,” she told Access Hollywood in September 2016.

If you or someone you know is in emotional distress or considering suicide, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).

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