Bereaved Clacton mum praises Blumenthal for bipolar film
A bereaved mother who took part in Heston Blumenthal's documentary about bipolar disorder has praised the "super brave" celebrity chef for wanting to end the stigma on mental health.Blumenthal opened up about his illness and spoke to others about their experience for the BBC film, My Life with Bipolar.Among them was Natalie McClellan, whose 24-year-old daughter Rebecca had bipolar and died in Ipswich in November 2023."If Heston can say 'I have bipolar but look at what I'm achieving, you can live a fulfilling life', it might change perspectives on mental illness," said Ms McClellan.
"He is super brave to do it; he has really put himself out there to help others."I try to do the same, but none of its easy."Since Rebecca's death, Ms McClellan has campaigned for improved mental health provision that could have helped her daughter, who she said felt "abandoned". She shared her story with Blumenthal over several hours at her home in Clacton-on Sea, Essex.The emotional experience helped them both, she said, particularly as Rebecca and Blumenthal had much in common.It even transpired that he had gone into hospital for his condition when Rebecca died."They had the same sorts of visual disturbances, he's got ADHD and she was awaiting a diagnosis," she said."I showed him videos of her, photos, and one video in particular where she says 'my bipolar is popping'."He said 'that's exactly how it is', I think he found that emotional."
The chef also became upset when talking about the impact of his bipolar disorder on his family - an experience that rang true for Ms McClellan."Rebecca didn't always tell us [how she felt], she would mask because she was worried about the effect it would have on us," she said."You just want your loved ones to be well and know what's going on, obviously I would rather worry every day but still have her here."Heston was quite open, he feels he has hurt his family and she [Rebecca] would be the same."
The trainee paramedic was left with no GP or psychiatrist when she moved to Ipswich for work, her mother previously told the BBC.In August 2023, she drove to a mental health unit and begged for help and said she was willing to drive anywhere in Norfolk and Suffolk to see someone, but staff told her to leave and threatened to call police.
'Not complacent'
In the film, Blumenthal is shown Rebecca's mobile footage of the incident, which he described as "absolutely shocking"."Since we lost Bex it's been really important for me to push for changes in mental health and the support people get," added Ms McClellan."I will keep going and keep going for people who are suffering in the way she suffered, but it's not easy, it's only been 18 months [since her death] and it's still very raw."The reason Heston was speaking out was he wants to end the stigma. "It's so important to me that I'm part of that message."I was honoured and proud to be part of that process, and I hope he feels proud, too."Rebecca was under the care of the Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT), which was in special measures for several years until January this year.In March it completed a review into the circumstances of her death. A date for an inquest has not been set.Trust chief Caroline Donovan, who joined in autumn 2023, said it had made "considerable progress" in its work to learn from deaths of patients and thanked Ms McClellan and other families for their "invaluable challenge and support"."We are not complacent and know we have much more to do to transform our services so that everyone receives safer, kinder and better services from us when they need them," she added.Blumenthal: My Life with Bipolar is available on BBC iplayerIf you are affected by any of the issues in this article you can find details of organisations that can help via BBC Action Line.
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