'I spent £25,000 in a DAY then flushed my new diamonds down the loo'- Mother with Bipolar Disorder

Lynn Hodges, 54, spent more than £90,000 during manic spending sprees after being diagnosed with bipolar disorder following her marriage breakdown
Trying to fix a bad day by throwing money at it is familiar to more than a few of us. Comfort shopping — buying a new dress or booking a holiday, say — can give us a buzz and make things seem better.
But what if you have more bad days than other people because you have a mental health condition such as depression or bipolar disorder? What happens if your moods are a rollercoaster of highs and lows and you spend thousands of pounds during 'manic' spending sprees?
A report published yesterday by the charity Money and Mental Health Policy Institute (MMHPI) suggests that you're up to six times more likely to have debt problems if you have a mental health issue such as depression.
The charity, founded by Martin Lewis ofmo neysavingexpert.com, describes the combination of money and mental illness as a 'marriage made in hell'.
Lynn Hodges, 54, knows exactly what this means. The mother-of-three from Kent has bipolar disorder — characterised by periods of mania and depression — and has racked up £90,000-worth of debt since she became very ill in 2004. During one episode, she spent more than £25,000 in a day on diamonds and other luxurygoods.Sheactually went on to flush the diamonds down the loo.
'Before I got ill, I was a high-flier,' she recalls. 'I owned a presentation business that worked with companies like Christie's and made more than £100,000 a year. I had a house in London and one in Kent and didn't owe money to anyone.'
Then in 2004, Lynn's relationship with her partner, the father of her children (now aged 15, 19 and 22), started to unravel and she took a sabbatical, moving the family to Spain to try to salvage things.
When this didn't work, Lynn fell into a 'black' depression, and her sisters had to bring her and the children back to the UK.