Brown says she has been using alcohol to “numb my pain,” spurred by a difficult divorce and the death of her father.
TV personality and performer Mel B is heading to rehab for alcohol and sex addiction, according to the Guardian.
The former Spice Girl, who has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), said she’s had an “incredibly difficult” six months in which she’s had to relive past traumas while writing her upcoming memoir Brutally Honest.
“It has been unbelievably traumatic reliving an emotionally abusive relationship and confronting so many massive issues in my life,” she said.
The America’s Got Talent judge (born Melanie Brown) confessed that she has been using alcohol to “numb my pain,” spurred by a difficult divorce and the death of her father.
“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,” she said, according to BBC. “No one knows myself better than I do. But I am dealing with it.”
She further clarified her decision to enter rehab on a recent Ellen appearance. “No, I’m not an alcoholic; no, I’m not a sex addict,” she told guest host Lea Michele.
This isn’t the first time Mel B has sought professional help. She told Michele that she has been receiving therapy since her father got diagnosed with cancer nearly a decade ago.
The current treatment she has been receiving has been “really helping me,” she said, according to The Sun. “I am fully aware I am at a crisis point.”
The singer and songwriter is getting help to become “a better version of myself for my kids, for my family and for all the people who have supported me in my life,” she said.
And if she can be a voice for those who silently suffer, “if I can shine a light on the issue of pain, PTSD and the things men and women do to mask it, I will,” she added.
Mel B is finalizing her divorce with Stephen Belafonte, which ended with restraining orders and a domestic violence trial that was settled out of court.
The singer said she was emotionally and “financially battered” by the breakup.
“You know, I was with the same person for 10 years, and that was quite a turmoil, very intense,” she said on Ellen. “That’s all I can say about it. I’d like to say a lot more, but on this show, let’s keep it PC. But… I did kind of have to ease my pain. I suffer a lot from PTSD.”