DJ Nikki Hayes opens up about breakdown: 'Everything just stopped working'

The Spin 1038 DJ (36) has spoken candidly over the years around her battles with depression and anorexia, but said she was finally given a correct diagnosis after a five-week hospitalisation in September after experiencing a breakdown.

Hayes, who wed army officer Frank Black in May of last year and has a two-year-old daughter Farrah, said "everything just stopped working" one evening and she was placed in a psychiatric unit before Christmas.

"I couldn't leave the house one minute or thought everything was wonderful the next, but on the day it happened, I was brought to hospital when everything just stopped working," she told the Irish Daily Mail.

"Frank was at a rugby match and I was in the kitchen on my own, after having put Farrah to bed. I went to the fridge to get milk for tea and couldn't figure out how to open it. I started roaring crying, I was distraught and rang Frank to come home.

"The ambulance came then and I was there in the psychiatric ward for the five weeks."

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The former 2fm star said she was not permitted to see her daughter for the first three weeks as no children under the age of 12 are allowed in the ward, but was released for "a couple of hours on temporary release" toward the end of her stay.

"I have EUPD, which is emotionally unstable personality disorder and that basically means your hormones are unregulated," she explained. "You go to extremes on everything and give yourself anxiety because you're overthinking everything. It's in the same family as bipolar.

"In a weird way, it's been a good thing for me because I've suffered over the years from depression, anxiety, eating disorders and I never really had a diagnosis. When I was an in-patient for the five weeks, there was a lot of monitoring and I got my first proper diagnosis ever."

Hayes added that her husband was "really worried" about the initial diagnosis, saying: "Frank was really worried because he couldn't understand why they couldn't do something to help and I'd be okay again. Before, I'd be getting back on an even keel and then something would happen that would set me back. This is the first time everything is working."

She also praised her radio boss for his understanding.