I had breakdown symptoms: Oprah Winfrey

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Press Trust of India London
Last Updated : Aug 16 2013 | 7:15 AM IST
Chat show queen Oprah Winfrey experienced symptoms associated with a nervous breakdown last year.
The 59-year-old media mogul, who struggled to cope as she worked to save her struggling TV network OWN and filmed her movie comeback in "Lee Daniel's The Butler", said during an interview with Jason Russell she realised she was on the verge of having an emotional meltdown, reported Contactmusic.
"Jason was talking about having a nervous breakdown and I was thinking, 'I have those symptoms'. (While recording voiceovers for OWN), I remember closing my eyes while I was reading and I thought, 'I cannot have another thing enter my brain. I need to pull back'," she said.
The TV star launched OWN (Oprah Winfrey Network) in January 2011 and due to poor ratings, Winfrey took over the role as chief executive officer and chief creative officer in July the same year.
However, new show 'Oprah's Next Chapter', which has featured interviews with huge stars, has improved the channel's standing and it will break even later this year, but she still finds it hard to deal with some individuals apparent joy at her channel's failings.
"After 25 years of being number one, I had become accustomed to success. I didn't expect failure and I had to dig deep. The schadenfreude was very painful for me because I had never experienced it. I thought, 'Do I not get credit for the 25 years? What have I gotten myself into?," she added.
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First Published: Aug 16 2013 | 7:15 AM IST

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