Sinéad O’Connor is 'safe' after posting alarming suicidal Facebook video
'She is surrounded by love and receiving the best of care. She asked for this to be posted knowing you are concerned for her,' says post
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Your support makes all the difference.Sinead O’Connor is “safe” after posting a distressing video pleading for help and revealing she has wanted to kill herself for the last two years.
The Irish singer raised alarm bells after she posted a tearful 12-minute video on her Facebook explaining she was living in a Travelodge motel in New Jersey.
O’Connor, who has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, revealed she is suffering from three mental illnesses and had felt isolated since losing custody of her 13-year-old son.
But a message on the singer’s Facebook page has now promised fans she is safe and not suicidal.
“Hi everybody, I am posting at Sinead's request, to let everyone who loves her know she is safe, and she is not suicidal,” it reads. “She is surrounded by love and receiving the best of care. She asked for this to be posted knowing you are concerned for her. I won't respond to any questions, so please understand. I hope this comforts those of you were concerned.”
South Hackensack Police Captain Robert Kaiser on Tuesday said officers went to the Travelodge where she said she was staying to carry out a welfare check but O'Connor wasn't in her room at the time.
Mr Kaiser said the musician is no longer staying there and police were not aware where she is currently living.
But the follow-up Facebook post has insisted the 50-year-old, who had a worldwide hit with “Nothing Compares 2 U” in 1990, is okay.
O’Connor sparked fears for her welfare after posting a video saying her doctor and psychiatrist were the only thing “keeping her alive”.
The songwriter, who was left distraught after losing her mother when she was just 19, said:
“I’m fighting and fighting and fighting like all the millions of people.
“If it was just for me I’d be gone. Straight away back to my mum ... because I’ve walked this earth alone for two years now as punishment for being mentally f**king ill and getting angry that no one would f***ing take care of me.”
The singer, who has been married four times, is mother to four children from four different relationships and became a grandma for the first time in 2015. After the singer lost custody of her youngest child, she made suicide threats, telling Ireland’s Child and Family Agency they would have “a dead celebrity on their hands” if they did not overturn their decision.
“I’m all by myself, there’s absolutely nobody in my life,” she told viewers. “I’m now living in a Travelodge motel in the arse-end of New Jersey.
“[No one] except my doctor, my psychiatrist – who is the sweetest man on earth who says I’m his hero – and that’s about the only f**king thing keeping me alive at the moment. The fact that I’m his bloody hero ... and that’s kind of pathetic.”
O'Connor said she had spent the last two years “wandering the world alone”.
“If it was just for me I'd be gone. Straight away back to my mum... because I've walked this earth alone for two years now as punishment for being mentally f****** ill and getting angry that no one would f****** take care of me,” she said.
“I'm a 5ft 4in little f****** woman wandering the world for two years by myself.”
She said she hoped that speaking openly about her mental health problems would help others in similar situations. She said she planned to get through and survive her latest crisis.
“I hope that this video is somehow helpful,” she said. “I know that I’m just one of millions and millions of people in the world that suffer like I do that don’t necessarily have the resources that I have.”
The video has prompted an outpouring of support from thousands of friends and fans on social media voicing worry for O'Connor's welfare.
The musician, who has recorded ten solo albums, has spoken candidly about her struggles with suicidal thoughts in the past. In 2007 she told Oprah Winfrey she had been diagnosed with bipolar and attempted to kill herself on her 33rd birthday.
A representative for O’Connor did not immediately respond to The Independent’s request for comment.
For confidential support on mental health call the Samaritans on 116 123, email jo@samaritans.org or attend a local Samaritans branch.
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