TULISA Contostavlos has put herself front and centre, whenever any of her I’m a Celeb campmates have required a shoulder to cry on, or even a hug.
And it seems the caring and compassionate side to her character has been evident for many years, since becoming mum Anne Byrne’s primary carer at the tender age of 11.
Anne was diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder in 2007, a combination of bipolar and schizophrenia, which was covered in 2010 BBC documentary, Tulisa: My Mum and Me.
In her 2012 autobiography Honest, Tulisa, who used to live with fellow singer Anne, in a one-bedroom flat on a council estate in north London, wrote: “Mum was obsessive about locking our front door, and it was always locked from the inside with the keys still hanging in the door.
“One morning I noticed that although the key was in the lock, it hadn’t been turned, and the door was actually unlocked.
“Knowing that my mum would freak out and feel vulnerable if she spotted it, I turned the key and locked it myself.
“Within seconds my mum, hearing the jangle of the keys, came tearing out into the hall, screaming at me hysterically.
“I guess she thought I was trying to open the door and panicked, but went completely off the deep end, accusing me of wanting to make her ill, or even kill her, and it went on and on.
“Incidents like this were a regular occurrence in our house, along with temper tantrums and mood swings.”
Speaking in the BBC doc, Tulisa suggested the pressures of looking after her mum led to her joining a gang and turning to drink and drugs.
Things even got so on top of her that Tulisa tried to take her own life on more than one occasion.
It was when her mum’s medication no longer seemed to be working that the N-Dubz singer really started to struggle.
She said: “One of the worst things about dealing with my mum was how helpless and alone I felt at such a vulnerable age.
“The doctors didn’t seem to be able to stabilise my mother’s moods and I felt myself being dragged further and further down by the environment I was forced to live in.”
And Tulisa said it was only her aspirations of becoming a pop star that kept her going at that time.
“Music and my dream of becoming a success was all that kept me going through those very dark times.”
When her father Plato, a former keyboard player with the band Mungo Jerry, left home, that’s when Tulisa started staying at her aunt’s house more often.
And it was there that she realised she’d rather be living in a more stable environment.
She said: “My dad left home and it triggered one of her episodes.
“One minute she’d look all mournful as if someone had died, the next she’d be angry and aggressive, smashing cupboards and shouting.
“Inevitably, she went into hospital again and I stayed with my mum’s older sister, Louise.
“She had children of her own and it was felt she was more able to look after a young girl.
Schizoaffective disorder is a mental health problem where you experience psychosis as well as mood symptoms.
Some people have suggested that schizoaffective disorder sits in the middle of a spectrum, with schizophrenia at one end and bipolar disorder at the other. This is because these diagnoses share many similar symptoms. But schizoaffective disorder is recognised as a separate diagnosis.
You might have times when you struggle to look after yourself. Or when your doctors feel that you lack insight into your behaviour and how you’re feeling.
Symptoms can begin at any age, but usually start when you’re a young adult. Some people only experience symptoms of schizoaffective disorder once in their life.
Source: Mind
“I used to dread my mum getting better and coming home because it would mean I’d have to leave my aunt’s house where I felt safe and happy and normal.”
Since Anne’s diagnosis her behaviour has thankfully stabilised, but Tulisa is still concerned she might also be diagnosed with the same condition one day.
She said: “Medical experts don’t seem to know for sure whether this disorder is hereditary.
“My own feeling is that everyone has the ability to become depressed or go to a dark place, and whether that could trigger the type of behaviour and illness my mum suffers, who knows?”
