After experiencing the whirlwind success that comes with being on a hit show like Bridgerton, Ruby Barker announced that she is taking some time off as she gets her mental health back on track.
The actress, who plays Marina Thompson on the Netflix series, checked in with her followers on Instagram on Thursday, posting a video from the hospital where she’s been receiving treatment after being “really unwell for a really long time.” But thanks to her stay there, she explained that she’s finally received a diagnosis is feeling much “better.” She explained, “I just want to be honest with everybody, I have been struggling. So, I’m in the hospital at the minute, I’m gonna get discharged soon and hopefully get to continue with my life and I’m gonna take a little bit of a break from myself.”
Barker went on to say that she wants “to encourage others, if you are struggling, please do yourself a favor. Take a break, stop being so hard on yourself. And people used to always tell me not to be so hard on myself, and I never really, really knew what that meant.” She also noted that before seeking professional help she was “rage-filled, frustrated, [and] angry” because of “all this intergenerational trauma bundled up inside me. I was carrying the weight of the world on my back.” But now, she continued, “I’m at a point where I have a diagnosis, and I will talk to you about that at another time. But I have a diagnosis, and I am relinquishing myself and forgiving myself and drawing a line in the sand. I can’t carry on the way that I’ve been carrying on. I need to change. So, that’s what I’m trying to do.”
The Bridgerton star then went on to give a special shoutout to the Australian musician Sexton whose sweatshirt she wears in the video, thanking her for making music that “has literally brought me out of the pits,” going on to sings a bit of the artist’s 2020 song “Waiting On a Better Day.” Barker also thanked her close friends and mentors, as well as Netflix and Shonda Rhimes, the executive producer of Bridgerton, “for giving me an opportunity, for saving me.” She concluded, “I cannot wait to fulfill all of my engagements and to have a good career and a good life. Because I do not want my diagnosis to be a self-fulfilling prophecy. I want to survive and I will survive, and I’m going to. And so are you. That’s the beauty of it, so are you. If you’re with me, you’re in good hands. Thank you.”