Katie Price Is Seeking Treatment for Mental Health Struggles: She's 'Unwell'

British model Katie Price's family is 'concerned' for her well-being amid mental health struggles — read more

Reaching out. British model Katie Price is struggling with her mental health and seeking professional help, her family revealed.

“As a family, we have for some time been concerned about Katie’s wellbeing and overall mental health. Today our worst fears nearly came true,” an Instagram statement read on Tuesday, September 28. “As a family we have been and will continue to help Katie get the help she needs. We hope that she will realize that she cannot battle her issues alone.”

The 43-year-old’s family continued, “We would kindly ask that the media and wider public give Kate the time and space she needs to seek the necessary treatment, so that she can hopefully return to the Kate we know and love as a mother, daughter and sister. We are concerned and worried about her deeply, we know she lives her life publicly and to many she is fair game, but as a family we hope she can find her path privately moving forward during this very difficult period in her life. We are not asking for sympathy — just that it is recognized that Kate is unwell.”

Price’s loved ones thanked fans who have been sending “messages of support and love for Kate that we will pass on to her, in the hope that these positive messages will help spur her on.”

According to the I’m a Celebrity … Get Me Out of Here! alum’s relatives, “It takes great strength for one to acknowledge they need help, we hope the door is now open for Kate to learn to love herself and to be happy within. Mental illness is not a personal failure.”

Well-wishes flooded the comments of the post. Bridgerton‘s Nicola Coughlan wrote, “Sending love ❤️,” while former Miss Universe Great Britain Amy Willerton added, “❤️ Get yourself well Kate x.”

Earlier this year, Price faced scrutiny for her choice to put her 18-year-old son, Harvey, in a full-time care facility. The former Celebrity Big Brother contestant told The Sun in January that the decision was “heartbreaking,” but necessary.

Katie Price Is Seeking Treatment for Mental Health Carl Woods — Carl Woods and Katie Price Courtesy of Katie Price/Instagram

“It’s so upsetting to think I won’t see him every day but this is the best thing for Harvey and we have to think positively because I don’t want him to think I’m just getting rid of him,” she explained at the time. “This is his chance to live an independent life, learn skills and socialize with people other than me. I’m trying to get him used to me not being there all the time. But he’ll call on his iPad and say, ‘Mum, I need you,’ and I run to him.”

Price shares her eldest child with former professional football player Dwight Yorke. Harvey is partially blind after being born with sept-optic dysplasia, a condition that left the development of his optic nerve unpredictable. He also suffers from Prader-Willis syndrome and is on the autism spectrum.

The Angel author is also the mother of Junior, 16, Princess, 14, Jett, 8, and Bunny, 7, all of whom were “excited” for their brother’s new chapter.

“They want to see what he can do,” Price told The Sun. “But I think they’ll find it hard when he’s not around on weekends. … I’m hoping he will make friends so he can socialize at the weekends, but if he has no plans then he can come home whenever he wants.”

Price later told Us Weekly exclusively that the arrangement was “transitional,” adding in January, “I want him to be happy because if he’s not happy, I’m not happy. … He’s going to benefit from it.”

The British Book Awards nominee has been candid about her personal struggles over the years, admitting in 2019 that she used cocaine and had previously entered a treatment program for addiction.

If you or someone you know is struggling with their mental health, contact the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).