Mel B is to check into rehab after reaching "crisis point".
The ‘America’s Got Talent’ judge – who has children Phoenix, 19, Angel, 11, and six-year-old Madison from previous relationships – is planning to enter a British facility in the next few weeks to get help after being diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and admitted she had been drinking heavily following a turbulent period in her life, including the death of her father Martin Brown and her split and subsequent messy divorce battle from Stephen Belafonte, who she accused of being abusive.
She told The Sun on Sunday newspaper: "The past six months have been incredibly difficult for me.I’ve been working with a writer on my book, ‘Brutally Honest’, and it has been unbelievably traumatic reliving an emotionally abusive relationship and confronting so many massive issues in my life from the death of my dad to my relationship with men.
"I’ve also been through more than a year of court battles which have left me financially battered and at the mercy of the legal system, which is completely weighted against emotionally abused women because it’s very hard to prove how someone took away all your self-respect and self-worth.
"I am being very honest in my book about drinking to numb my pain but that is just a way a lot of people mask what is really going on.
"Sometimes it is too hard to cope with all the emotions I feel. But the problem has never been about sex or alcohol — it is underneath all that…
"I am fully aware I am at a crisis point. No-one knows myself better than I do. But I am dealing with it.
"I love my three girls more than life itself.I have also made the decision to go into a proper therapy programme in the next few weeks, but it has to be in the UK because I am very, very British and I know that will work best for me."
And the 43-year-old star hopes being candid about her own struggles will help other people.
She added: "I am still struggling. But if I can shine a light on the issue of pain, PTSD and the things men and women do to mask it, I will do.
"I am speaking about this because this is a huge issue for so many people.I’m not perfect, and I have never pretended to be. But I am working on being a better version of myself for my kids, for my family and for all the people who have supported me in my life."
The Spice Girls star has also made progress after beginning a new therapy called eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing (EMDR).
She said: "I have recently been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and on August 9, after trying many different therapies I started a course of therapy called EMDR, which in a nutshell works on the memory to deal with some of the very painful and traumatic situations I have been through.I don’t want to jinx it, but so far it’s really helping me."
Mel’s admission came after her friend Rusty claimed her drinking and "sexual appetite" had spiralled out of control.
Rusty – who met Mel in 2003 but grew distant from her during her marriage to Stephen, only to reconcile their friendship when the couple split last year – said: "Mel has got crazier over the years and I’ve had enough. I cannot deal with it any more.
"I know people will say it’s none of my business – but she won’t listen to anyone. I hope this is a wake-up call for her.
"She needs help, but lives in her own little world.
"She is drinking every day that she isn’t working. Her sexual appetite is out of control.
"You can’t take any straight guy round to her house.
"I also worry about her spending. She gets paid a lot of money but just wastes it. She thinks she’s like the Kardashians!"
Mel B to enter rehab
