London
(Reuters):
Actor
Stephen
Fry
has
revealed
how
he
contemplated
suicide
twice,
once
as
a
teenager
and
again
11
years
ago.
The
48-year-old
star
of
British
comedies
Blackadder
and
Jeeves
and
Wooster
recalled
the
second
incident,
which
took
place
after
he
had
walked
out
of
a
West
End
play
called
Cell
Mates.
''Eleven
years
ago
in
the
early
hours
of
the
morning
I
came
down
from
my
flat
in
central
London
to
this
lane,''
he
said
in
the
programme
Stephen
Fry
-
The
Secret
Life
of
the
Manic
Depressive,
which
will
be
aired
on
BBC
Two
in
the
autumn.
''I
went
into
my
garage,
sealed
the
door
with
a
duvet
I
brought,
and
got
into
my
car
...
Sat
there
for
at
least,
I
think,
two
hours
in
the
car,
my
hands
on
the
ignition
key.
''It
was
a
...
suicide
attempt,
not
a
cry
for
help.''
Shortly
afterward
he
fled
the
country
but
returned
a
week
later
and
was
diagnosed
as
having
bipolar
disorder.
''I'd
never
heard
the
word
before,
but
for
the
first
time,
at
the
age
of
37,
I
had
a
diagnosis
that
explained
the
massive
highs
and
miserable
lows
I've
lived
with
all
my
life,''
Fry
said.
In
the
same
interview
he
said
he
had
tried
to
take
an
overdose
of
tablets
aged
17,
but
vomited
them
up.
By
taking
part
in
the
programme,
Fry
hopes
to
raise
awareness
of
manic
depression
and
break
some
of
the
taboos
surrounding
the
condition.
''I
have
discovered
just
how
serious
it
is
to
have
bi-polarity
or
manic
depression
as
it's
also
called.
Four
million
others
in
the
UK
have
it
and
many
of
them
end
up
killing
themselves.''