Coronation Street's Gemma Winter will reveal her hidden turmoil in a heart-to-heart with her mum Bernie next week.
The ITV soap is exploring a mental health storyline for Gemma, who has been struggling behind closed doors since welcoming the arrival of her quads.
Next week's episodes see Gemma's mum Bernie (Jane Hazlegrove) return to the cobbles and spot the signs that her daughter isn't coping.
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Bernie wastes little time before questioning Gemma, who brushes off her worries and insists that everything is fine.
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Later in the week, Gemma gets upset when she finally sees the true colours of Imogen and Vanessa, her two-faced "friends" from the baby group.
First of all, Gemma suggests meeting up later, but Imogen and Vanessa make excuses. Gemma realises that they've lied to her when she finds out they're secretly having a party at Imogen's house and haven't invited her.
At their next baby yoga class, Vanessa apologises to Gemma for the "misunderstanding" over the party. She invites Gemma to join them for lunch instead.
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Gemma is pleased to be back in with the other girls, but after they ply her with prosecco, she hears them bitching about her and gets upset.
Feeling awful after such nasty behaviour, Gemma fails to spot an oncoming car outside and nearly gets run over with the quads. A police officer looks into the chaos and realises that Gemma has been drinking.
Returning home, Gemma breaks down in front of Bernie by declaring that she endangered the babies' lives and worries about them non-stop.
Gemma adds that she hasn't slept for weeks and fears she's a hopeless mum.
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Bernie urges Gemma to confide in Chesney, but she refuses and insists on dealing with this alone. When the babies start to cry, she feels overwhelmed and heads into the back yard, breaking down in tears.
Dolly-Rose Campbell, who plays Gemma, recently spoke about Coronation Street's plans to explore a depression story for her character: "Gemma has no idea that this may be a medical problem – she does not know that at this stage.
"Bernie knows her better than anyone and it is going to take someone close to her to recognise what she is going through and that this is more than just struggling with the babies, she does need real help to get through this."
Coronation Street airs these scenes in an hour-long episode on Friday, March 20 at 7.30pm on ITV.
We would encourage anyone who identifies with the topics raised in this article to reach out. Organisations who can offer support include Samaritans on 116 123 (www.samaritans.org) or Mind on 0300 123 3393 (www.mind.org.uk). Readers in the US are encouraged to visit mentalhealth.gov or the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.
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