Mariah Carey confirms she is on medication for bipolar disorder

Mariah Carey has spoken out for the first time about her battle with bioplar disorder in an exclusive interview with US People magazine.

The singer detailed how she was diagnosed in 2001 but refused to believe that she was ill. She said she finally got proper treatment after "the hardest couple of years I've been through."

She has bipolar 11 disorder, which results in long periods of depression and hypomania.

“For a long time I thought I had a severe sleep disorder. But it wasn’t normal insomnia and I wasn’t lying awake counting sheep. I was working and working and working … I was irritable and in constant fear of letting people down."

She said she is in therapy and is taking medication. She said she's in a good place and his working on a new album, due for release later this year.