‘Blue Bloods’ Star Jennifer Esposito Reveals She Was Locked in Psych Ward During Terrifying Health Battle: ‘It Was Horrendous’

Jennifer Esposito recently detailed the devastating health battle she had to endure during the early days of her career that landed her in a psychiatric ward.

The Blue Bloods star appeared on Maria Menounos' "Heal Squad” podcast on Tuesday, August 11. During the conversation, she revealed that her life almost went completely off track due to an illness she was suffering from that doctors struggled to diagnose at first.

The 53-year-old told the host that trouble started when she moved to New York City as a promising young actress. She recalled that her symptoms gradually escalated to a point where she “had to stop everything.”

She also revealed that her then-undiagnosed illness took such a toll on her that she became “deeply depressed” and began having “thoughts of suicide.”

“They brought me to a psychologist, like they had me on every medication,” she said.

“They wanted to give me shock treatment at one point because I wasn't responding. I'm very sensitive to medication. It was a really bad time. And my mother had people pray over me,” she added.

Esposito eventually realized that “there was a major connection with what I was eating and my vitamins and then my body.”

However, her body began to “collapse” while she was filming the ABC comedy series Samantha Who?

She admitted that there was a phase when her hair and nails began falling out on their own.

During one particularly horrific incident, she recalled, “A tooth fell out of my mouth, like literally in the middle of a scene.”

“I was mortified but also had been so ill that I just...I went hysterical. Like, somebody has to help me,” she stated.

Per the actress, much of her helplessness stemmed from being repeatedly misdiagnosed by doctors, with one therapist even suggesting that her symptoms were caused by stress.

Calling it medical “gaslighting,” she told the host, “We don’t ever treat the actual underlying issue. We treat symptoms in this country, in America.”

She also stated that she tried everything to get help during those years, including visiting healers, aura cleansers, visiting a non-denominational church and even going vegan. However, her health battle continued.

She recalled reaching a breaking point one day while driving, thinking that if she still didn't get a proper diagnosis, she would have to accept that her condition was truly related to mental illness and “let it go.”

Moments later, a large piece of wood flew from the truck in front of her and smashed into her windshield, leaving her sitting with glass all over her.

She took it as a sign to keep fighting, and two days later she got a call from her doctor with the diagnosis of celiac disease.

Although the Hollywood star finally received a diagnosis and could begin treatment, including cutting out gluten from her diet, her condition had progressed to a point where her liver was failing.

“I’m not sure how you’re alive,” she recalled her doctor telling her.

She also stated that she was severely Vitamin D deficient by that point, and exposure to sunlight caused her to develop welts on her skin.

Her nervous system, too, was so overwhelmed that even ordinary stimulation could trigger an intense reaction.

“They had me on four Klonopin a day, and I was still a trembling mess,” she said.

“I was literally sleeping in my kitchen because it was the only place that didn’t have a window, because the light — the stimulus from the light — would make me tremble and shake,” she continued, before adding, “It was horrendous.”

Around two months after her diagnosis, another tragedy unfolded when she was visiting a doctor.

Noting that she was absolutely distraught, she asked the doctor to “keep me here because I’m jumping out of my skin. I’m going to jump out the window.”

Her words at the time were misinterpreted as an intent to self-harm, and half an hour later she was placed in a psych ward under the alias “Betty Franklin.”

“I will say it was seven of the most excruciating hours of my entire life because I was yet again pleading for my sanity,” she said.

Her father remained with her during her short stay in the ward, and she eventually made it out safely. However, recovery was a long process.

“If you heal your gut, I promise you, not everything can go away,” she said, adding that healing “takes time.”