Fern Brady (Image: Google) Get the latest entertainment news sent straight to your inbox with our weekly Showbiz newsletter More Newsletters Subscribe Please enter a valid email Something went wrong, please try again later. More Newsletters We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and third parties based on our knowledge of you. More info Thank you for subscribing! We have more newsletters Show me See Our Privacy Notice See Our Privacy Notice × Group 28 Get the latest entertainment news sent straight to your inbox with our weekly Showbiz newsletter Invalid email Something went wrong, please try again later. Sign Up No thanks, close We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and third parties based on our knowledge of you. More info × Group 28 Thank you for subscribing! We have more newsletters Show Me No thanks, close See our Privacy Notice Fern Brady was diagnosed with autism in 2021 after years of battling to understand her emotions. The Scottish comedian was in her 30s when a series of meltdowns led her to seek out answers and at the age of 34 was diagnosed. Whilst performing a stand-up
comedy gig in
Berlin in 2017, the star joked that she didn't fit in with other
Women. Afterwards, a woman in the audience approached her and told her it sounded like a description of autism , sparking her four-year battle to be diagnosed. Read More Related Articles ITV Coronation Street's Tracy Barlow
Actress Kate Ford breaks silence after character's exit Read More Related Articles Fern Britton's 'revenge' on Phillip Schofield as she plans huge TV comeback Growing up in Bathgate , West Lothian, she was often misunderstood and found herself regularly in trouble, causing the star to have 'meltdowns' as she felt so overwhelmed. Tragically, Fern was misdiagnosed with OCD in her teens and later advised to go on antidepressants which she later revealed did little to make her life feel more manageable and she began self-harming. Heartbreakingly, at the tender age of 15, she took an overdose of pills and ended up in a mental health unit. Photo of Fern Brady. See PA Feature BOOK Fern Brady. Picture credit should read: Raphael Neal/PA. WARNING: This picture must only be used to accompany PA Feature BOOK Fern Brady. She told the Metro: "I think I was really privileged to get put in a mental unit, because now teenagers can’t get anything." Now, more than a decade later, she has penned a deeply moving memoir 'Strong Female Character' which details her experience of being a female who is autistic. The memoir explores class, mental health, societal pressures and individual ambition. While writing her memoir, Fern revealed that she often considered how her autism revelations might affect her comedy career. “I kept thinking, ‘This is probably going to ruin things for me’. "But then I reassured myself that the people I’m most worried about are probably not going to read it, although quite a few comedians I’ve sent it to have read it. Join the Daily Record
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Scotland. No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Daily Record team. All you have to do is click here if you're on mobile , select 'Join Community' and you're in! If you're on a desktop, simply scan the QR code above with your phone and click 'Join Community'. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don’t like our community, you can check out any time you like. To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose 'exit group'. If you’re curious, you can read our Privacy Notice. “I had a lot to say about autism and didn’t feel like it was stuff that I could say in stand-up, because not everyone is interested in autism stuff.” Prior to her diagnosis, at the age of 17, Fern's relationship with her parents became so strained that they asked her to move out, leaving her couch surfing whilst she completed her exams at Edinburgh University. In a bid to make ends meet, Fern began working in a strip club, realising that this was the most autism-friendly of the jobs she'd had, which included retail and admin. She said: "I just think it’s absolutely insane that one of the jobs I stayed in the longest was one that was perfectly set up for an autistic." Adding that in hindsight, she believes some of her co-workers were also autistic. "‘Whenever you’re in groups of outsiders and on the fringes of society, that’s where you’ll find autistic people. "I met really cool girls. I felt really at home there!" Following her diagnosis, the star has campaigned for autism awareness, supporting Autistica - an autism charity which funds and campaigns for research to understand autism - Anxiety Breakthroughs campaign for World Autism Awareness Month. Speaking to the charity, she explained her personal experiences. Top TV news Bradley and Barney's Gladiators future Cat and Ben's replacements confirmed Antiques Roadshow couple storm off Laura Tobin 'struggling' on GMB She said: "Getting diagnosed helped me realise anxiety doesn’t really look the same in autistic people as it does in others - for years I thought people who had anxiety could be easily spotted as they’d be hyperventilating and talking at high speed and that didn’t sound like me at all. "In my case, my anxiety is frequently misinterpreted in public as anger or general grumpiness - in private my anxiety resulted in exhausting and destructive meltdowns that led to me finally getting a diagnosis. I have alexythymia so didn’t even know I had crippling anxiety until my doctor explained it to me." She added: "Getting help and speaking to more autistic people and organisations signposted me towards resources that would help me better understand emotions and how to tackle anxiety. Crucially, being aware of all this also enabled me to be a better advocate for myself in work and at home as well as finally start to build a more positive self-image after years of thinking meltdowns were my fault." Get the latest celebrity gossip and telly news sent straight to your inbox. Sign up to our daily Showbiz newsletter here . Story Saved You can find this story in My Bookmarks. Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right. Follow Daily Record
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