Patty Duke bipolar nightmare!

Patty Duke has opened up about her struggle with mental illness.

The actress who personified courage and strength in her award-winning stage and screen portrayals of Helen Keller and Annie Sullivan says she drew on that same strength when facing her own struggle with mental illness.

“The example set for me by Helen Keller and Annie Sullivan helps me to find inspiration, strength and determination to carry this message as far and wide as I can,” Duke said.

Duke said she first began experiencing the symptoms of bipolar disorder in her 20s, but the disease would go undiagnosed for many years. The longer the disease went untreated, the worse her symptoms became, she said, and her struggles with anger and substance abuse would take a heavy toll on her family.

Finally diagnosed by a psychiatrist in 1982, Duke recalled feeling hope that her symptoms could finally be controlled.

“Thank God, was my response,” Duke said. “It has a name! And if it has a name, then other people know about it … and better yet it has a treatment.

“[We] travel the country to speak on this topic in the hope that shedding some light in the pocket of fear will in time help to erase the stigma that keeps so many people from getting the help they need and deserve,” Duke said.

Duke said she first became aware of the concept of disability at age 12 when she was asked to play Helen Keller during the Broadway production of The Miracle Worker. She recalled connecting with Keller’s sense of frustration as she tried to prepare for the role.

“My response to feeling thwarted and isolated was alternating rage and withdrawal, which I used to my advantage when I portrayed Helen,” she said.

The story of Keller and Sullivan would be a “beacon of hope” for Duke during her own struggle with disability, she said.

“Rarely do we think of mental illness when we think of disability,” Duke said. “Nonetheless, this is a disability that affects millions of us.”