'Still very much a work in progress': Sharon Au celebrates 3 years off antidepressants

She quit her job and moved out of Singapore, and taking that risk kickstarted her recovery.

Local actress Sharon Au, who has been living in Paris since 2018, took to Instagram on March 13 to celebrate three years since she got off her antidepressants.

"I was on Fluoxetine for 6.5 years. I can't claim all the credit. My friends supported me and my cat Rudon taught me unconditional love," said the 48-year-old in the caption of her post.

"Perhaps my own contribution was taking a leap of faith to quit my job and move out of Singapore. That was the beginning of the road to recovery."

Adding that her recovery is "still very much a work in progress", she concluded: "If I haven't tried, I haven't lived."

She ended off her post in Japanese, writing, "Do your best."

AsiaOne has reached out to Sharon for more information.

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In 2022, she opened up on radio DJ Jean Danker's podcast R U Okay? and recalled a time when she was suicidal.

She said that she couldn't remember what drove her to the state of feeling like "it's pointless to continue" but knew she had to tell her mum.

"It wasn't like, 'Mum, I'm gonna kill myself.' It was more like, 'I don't want to live,'" she shared back then.

Her mother's response was simple and according to Sharon, a wake-up call to herself: "I really just want you to be okay. And if you don't think you're okay anymore in this sphere, okay, you go, I will pray for you. I'm sure the Lord will be taking care of you... I'm sure he'll do a much better job than me."

Sharon said she began counselling sessions afterwards and was eventually referred to a medical institution that prescribed her medication.

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