‘I have my ups and downs’ Elaine Crowley has practical approach to mental health battle

Elaine Crowley has spoken candidly about being diagnosed with a ‘major depressive disorder’, which is ‘something I will have all my life’.

The TV personality has had to deal with a lot of grief in her life, having lost her dad Sean to liposarcoma when she was just 23 years old and later losing her mum Mary to lung cancer in 2021.

Elaine then faced more heartache when she devastatingly lost her nephew Ultan, who was just 11 years of age, to a rare form of cancer in 2023.

Rather than letting the sadness and grief consume her, Elaine has a practical approach to dealing with the ‘ups and downs’ of her battle with mental health.

Speaking to RSVP magazine, she said: ‘When it comes to being content, you sometimes have to make a conscious decision, if you are able to. I do have my ups and downs.’

‘If I feel myself spiralling, I know I have the skill to get myself out of it. It’s very, very easy, unfortunately, to go to a deep, dark hole and it’s scary when that can happen,’ Elaine continued.

She added: ‘I have a major depressive disorder. It’s something I will have all my life. It will never go away fully, and I’m aware of that. And to be content, I have to accept that.

‘You have to accept that you’re going to have bad days, and bad months and good months. That is the way it works.’

Elaine has an incredible support network around her who are her ‘ride or die people’, if you will.

Speaking previously to EVOKE, the Ireland AM star revealed the reason she decided to give Dancing with the Stars a whirl at the beginning of the year was to create some joy she could give back to her family.

She said: ‘The last few years have been sad and depressing and I just wanted to have a bit of fun and a bit of joy. You only live once and you’ll regret the stuff you don’t do more than the stuff you do.

‘Plus, I have to say my family is getting a great kick out of it. The sisterhood of the sparkly knickers is alive and well in the Crowley household, let me tell you. I just wanted some fun and some joy.’

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