A mother-of-one developed a severe psychosis that left her thinking she was a Viking princess and pregnant with a royal baby after doctors changed her antidepressant medication.
Jade Rossiter, 26, began experiencing vivid dreams and then began acting as if they were characters she had seen on television.
Jade, from Farnborough, Hampshire, said: “I was having very vivid dreams. My arm would go up and hit the wall. That would wake me up.
“I would act like Danny Dyer or Katherine Tate. She would act as they appeared on screen.
Jade Rossiter suffered severe psychosis after switching antidepressants
Jade thought she was a Viking princess after watching the TV show Vikings (pictured: Katheryn Winnick as Lagertha in Vikings)
Jade, who was trying to have a baby at the time, had also been watching the TV show Vikings at the time.
She said: ‘It was terrifying. I thought she was a real Viking princess and she was pregnant.
‘At some point I thought I had given birth. She was cradling my coat thinking she was my baby.
“I didn’t think anything bad happened to me at that time.”
Jade had recently changed her antidepressant medication and believes that is what triggered the psychosis.
While she didn’t realize anything was wrong, her family began to notice her symptoms.
Her father, Jim Rossiter, 62, a delivery driver, said: “She was completely out of character.” She thought she was in EastEnders. She thought she was invincible.
‘It was crazy trying to get the help I needed. She kept wanting to leave the house.
Jade with her father Jim, who noticed that her paranoia and delusions began to develop after she changed medications.
Jade told how she almost died after sinking into a deep depression, losing five stone while under the Mental Health Act.
Jade is now much better and insists that mental illness does not define you
Jade was committed under the Mental Health Act for four months in January 2019 after several trips to A&E.
She said: ‘I almost died. I became catatonic, very, very deep depression. I couldn’t move, talk or eat.
‘I was a size six to eight when I came in, and I dropped to five kilos when I was there. He was quite traumatic.”
Jade left the hospital in April 2019 and doctors who had been following her diagnosed her with bipolar disorder.
She was treated by a mental health team for the next three years and was able to recover. She gave birth to her son, who is now three years old, in March 2021.
But at some point, a new physiatrist thought she had overcome bipolar disorder and Jade was taken off her medications in November 2022 and her psychosis returned.
Soon, she became convinced that people were hacking into her phone, listening to her calls, and that she would be the next Queen of England.
She said: “I was happy to be away from the diagnosis, but my mental health went through the roof.” I thought nothing was wrong with me. “That was my way of thinking for a long time.”
Jim said: ‘I was paranoid. His attitude changed. She would see criticism in any innocent comment.
“It was like walking on eggshells all the time.”
Jade had to be hospitalized again for two months in March 2023 when her psychosis returned.
She said: “I thought people were hacking into my phone and listening to phone calls.” I thought she was going to be the next Queen of England.
‘I thought people were trying to follow me and my family. It was really scary and really traumatizing.
“It was hard to come back to reality.”
A year later, Jade is doing well and continues to see a physiatrist and take medication. She hopes to raise awareness about psychosis and bipolar disorder.
She said: “If I can raise awareness for other people going through what I’ve been through, that’s important.”
‘We are not alone. I prefer to talk about it to show that it happens. You can have psychosis, but that doesn’t define you.’
Jim added: “He’s in a really good place now.”