Gemma Oaten details 'darkest days' in 'backwards' psychiatric unit while battling anorexia

Gemma Oaten has detailed her ‘darkest days’ in the ‘brutal’ and ‘backwards’ psychiatric unit she was admitted to with anorexia at the age of 11.

The actress, 37, revealed in a new interview: ‘I nearly didn’t make it because of the eating disorder. I almost died four times. I spent a lot of my life in hospitals, eating disorder units and psychiatric units.’

She also shared that her A-list pal Patrick Stewart was ‘instrumental in my decision to start speaking out’.

Candid: Gemma Oaten, 37, has detailed her ‘darkest days’ in the ‘brutal’ and ‘backwards’ psychiatric unit she was admitted to with anorexia at the age of 11

Of the conditions of wards she found herself on as a child, she told The Sun: ‘Some of these places were backwards in their approach. It was very much reward and punishment.’

She also noted that dreams of appearing on her favourite soap got her through, adding: ‘I’d watch Coronation Street and escape into it. I still dared to dream that I’d be on Corrie one day.’

As for her relationship with Star Trek’s Patrick, 81, Gemma revealed they first struck up a friendship when she wrote to him for advice as a student.

Patrick wrote back, and the pair have stayed in touch ever since, with Gemma even sharing that it was his advice to ‘use her voice for good’ that inspired her to start speaking out about her eating disorder.

Pals: She also shared that her A-list pal Patrick Stewart was ‘instrumental in my decision to start speaking out’

MailOnline has reached out to Patrick’s representatives for comment.  

Gemma – who played Rachel Breckle in Emmerdale from 2011-2015 and now stars on the Corrie cobbles as Isla – revealed last year that her battle with anorexia left her 24 hours from death at just 12 years old.

She first formed a complicated relationship with food at the age of ten before being diagnosed with an eating disorder just two years later.

Speaking to The Sun at the time, she said: ‘I just restricted my eating completely. I constantly felt fat. It was just a spiral. I became a prisoner of my own mind…

‘I would be pumped with calories, drugs and potassium and shipped back out. There was no funding to put me anywhere that was specialised.’

Scary: Gemma revealed last year that her battle with anorexia left her 24 hours from death at just 12 years old

Childhood: Gemma (pictured left aged 9 and right 10) first formed a complicated relationship with food at the age of ten before being diagnosed with an eating disorder just two years later

Gemma said that she was warned by doctors that if she didn’t eat or drink anything within 24 hours she would be dead.

And she has been battling numerous health issues since as a direct result of her anorexia.

The soap star said: ‘My eating disorder was always there and waiting to pounce. At 18, it spiralled again and I had a heart attack. A year later at 19, I had a bowel prolapse [when the rectal wall slides out].’

The health scares served as a wake up call for Gemma who said she decided to start seeing a therapist and has now been in recovery for 13 years.

Disturbing: Gemma (pictured left age 18 and right 19) has been battling numerous health issues since as a direct result of her anorexia

But she continues to take a tablet each day to help her bladder, which was weakened by the bowel prolapse, as well as medication for her stomach and laxatives to relieve internal pressure.

During her battle, Gemma’s mother Marg, now 69, and her father Dennis, 74, set up the SEED Eating Disorders Support Services charity.

And Gemma now dedicates much of her time to raising awareness for eating disorders and calls for improvements on the system, which she believes is ‘not good enough’. 

Supportive: During her battle, Gemma’s mother Marg, now 69, and her father Dennis, 74, set up the SEED Eating Disorders Support Services charity (pictured together last year)