In her darkest moment, Rebecca Gibney wrote a goodbye note to her mum. It was a turning point.

Warning: This article discusses suicide and self-harm.

Australia fell in love with Rebecca Gibney thanks to her roles in popular Australian TV shows such as The Flying Doctors, Halifax f.p., Packed to the Rafters, Winter, and Wanted.

But behind-the-scenes of her incredible career, the actress has faced more hardship than most.

Now in her 50s, she is opening up about the mental health challenges she's faced throughout her life, including a dark moment in her 30s when she contemplated taking her own life.

In the past, she's also been candid about the struggles she endured as a teenager growing up with an abusive father.

This week, the beloved actor took to Instagram to open up about her wellbeing and encourage others to seek help should they be struggling.

Rebecca Gibney has been overwhelmed by the response after speaking out. Image: @rebeccagibney_.

"Over the last 48 hours I've had two people share with me that they have recently lost close friends to suicide and are attending funerals over the coming days. I didn't know either of the friends, but it really affected me," she wrote.

"As some of you know, I struggled with severe anxiety and panic attacks for most of my life. As a teen I was often erratic, impulsive, prone to rages and was bored easily."

Gibney explained that she landed on her feet by accident after dropping out of high school at 15. She fell into acting by chance, which gave her an extraordinary career and a purpose.

But it couldn't entirely mask her pain.

"In my early thirties I had everything. Thriving career, solid family, extraordinary friendships. But deep down I was spiralling. The weekly panic attacks became daily then hourly. The self-loathing was constant and my pain was so deep I didn't know how to deal with it. I just knew I wanted it over," she said.

Gibney decided to write letters to her loved ones.

"It was while I was writing a letter to my mum that I suddenly realised that she would never understand and would never get over losing me. It made me stop. I was lucky.

"I got help. I found a therapist. And with baby steps I eventually came home to myself. And after the birth of our son I found my panic attacks even went away. I thought I was ok.

Unfortunately, 2025 marked the return of that panic, stress and sadness. Her 'optimistic bubble' burst.

"I found myself back in the pit of self doubt, fear and anxiety," she explained. "So I picked up the phone and made a call that would change my life. I got help and treatment and I am back doing what I love. But there have been struggles.

Gibey urged her fans to remember that you can't always see what people are dealing with from the surface.

"We ALL mask our pain, but we all also feel it. You're not alone," she said.

Following the Instagram post, Gibney was overwhelmed with responses.

"Thank you to all the people that have sent messages," she wrote in a follow-up on Instagram stories. "I can't answer them all, but I am reading them and I am so thankful that I may have helped in a small way. And thank you for sharing your stories."

This isn't Gibney's first time speaking out about the importance of protecting our mental health.

Listen: The five-minute method that can stop a downward spiral. Post continues below.

'I really didn't like my father.'

Gibney began to open up publicly about her childhood in the late 2010s. In 2019, she spoke candidly on Andrew Denton's 2019 program, Interview.

"All through my teens growing up, I really didn't like my father. In fact I can probably say I hated him," she told Denton.

"I blamed him for so much misery and not having a normal life. I could never bring friends home because he'd always be drunk. At that stage he wasn't violent anymore, he was just a drunk, and he'd fall over," she shared.

She explained that not many people knew she was "being raised in a family of domestic violence."

Rebecca pictured in the 1980s. Image: @rebeccagibney_

“I grew up in a household where violence toward our mother was a common occurrence," Gibney said. "I am appalled that anyone can accuse a woman of ‘asking’ to be beaten. Domestic violence is wrong — domestic violence in any form is wrong.

“Please let us remember how difficult it is for anyone that has been in this situation to speak out," she added. “And for anyone in a similar situation, there is always someone who will listen. And you can get through it. My mother and my family [are] a testament to that.”

Gibney has also shared that it took a breakdown in her 30s for her to fully understand the impact of this childhood trauma.

Watch: Rebecca Gibney opens up about ageing with Andrew Denton on Interview. Post continues below.

“I started seeing a counsellor, and I was able to fully understand then how [my mother] was able to forgive him. I realised that… he’s gone. You hating them or being angry at them is doing nothing for them and everything to you. It’s ruining your life,” she told Denton.

“You’ve got to cry and get angry, but when you finally let that go, it’s quite an extraordinary experience. And I realised that’s what mum would have done, a lot.”

Speaking on This Is Your Life, Gibney shared details of that time, including the nervous breakdown that led her to seek therapy in order to address what she had faced.

At the time, her marriage to musician Irwin Thomas was falling apart, just as her career was taking off.

“It was pretty tough,” she revealed. “And that was the hard thing, you do put on a front. My career was going great guns."

At her lowest point; she was having up to 15 panic attacks a day.

“I had anxiety attack after anxiety attack. I was in such a hole, and I thought, ‘I’m not going to make it’,” she admitted. “I was struggling, and I couldn’t verbalise what was wrong. I just knew there was a hole inside me and it was getting bigger and bigger, and I was tumbling into it."

'If you get the help, you can get through it.'

Gibney now credits therapy with helping her overcome her anxiety and depression.

“It’s so important that now, people talk about their struggles. Because if you get the help, you can get through it,” she said on This Is Your Life. “Now I know that if I start to slide into that pit, I know that there’s a way out of it."

Australia fell in love with Gibney, thanks to her roles in shows like Packed to the Rafters. Image: Seven.

These days, Gibney is based in her native New Zealand, living in Dunedin with her husband of more than 20 years, Richard Bell, and her son, Zac, who is 21.

“He gets me utterly, and we’re each other’s biggest fans,” Gibney said of Bell in an interview with The New Zealand Women’s Weekly. “It doesn’t mean we don’t have issues, but we always work through them because I can’t imagine growing old with anyone else. He’s my rock, and I think I’m his,” she shared.

At the 2024 TV Week Logie Awards, Gibney was inducted into the Logies Hall of Fame. She's one of only four women who have received this honor.

In her acceptance speech, which followed an emotional speech from her son and former co-stars, Gibney referenced her past, commenting that her 16-year-old self would never believe it.

"I'm so overwhelmed, I'm sorry," she began. "My son, I was kind of OK until you came out. Thank you so much. If someone had told 16-year-old me who suffered crippling anxiety and severe body dysmorphia that one day I would be standing on the stage with this award, she wouldn't have believed it."

If you or anyone you know needs to speak with an expert, please contact your GP or in Australia, contact Lifeline (13 11 14), Kids Helpline (1800 55 1800) or Beyond Blue (1300 22 4636), all of which provide trained counsellors you can talk with 24/7.

If you have been bereaved or impacted by suicide loss at any stage in your life, StandBy is a free service you can access on 1300 727 247.

Feature Image: @rebeccagibney_

This article was first published in 2024 and has since been updated with new details.