SPICE Girl Melanie Brown had painful electric brain therapy to try to deal with terrifying suicidal thoughts that were plaguing her life.
In an exclusive interview, Mel, 48, has revealed she secretly flew to a Balearic island at the end of last year and had the gruelling brain treatment nearly every day for six weeks.
The star says the electro cranial magnetic therapy “renewed, rewired and shocked” the neurons in her brain that had been battered after ten years in a physically, emotionally and financially abusive marriage with Stephen Belafonte.
Mel told The Sun on Sunday: “The machine would bang and brrr as magnetic waves shot into my head. It was intrusive.”
She describes how the shape of her head was measured so that the machine could treat certain specific points of the brain that deal with “trauma, emotions and depression”.
A grey cap was then placed on her head before the painful therapy began.
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She describes how it brought her to “floods of tears” and she had to deal with terrifying flashbacks.
It was a last resort after already trying hypnotherapy and EMDR, which involves moving the eyes a specific way to process trauma, as well as tapping therapy where the patient works on acupressure points to resolve anxiety.
Mel says: “I know it sounds extreme but I had tried other therapies.
“Talking therapy brought everything up again and I didn’t want to say the things that had happened to me, even to a professional.
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“So I did this to guinea-pig myself. I want to make sure that I can honestly say to another survivor, ‘If you can’t do the talking therapy because you are scared, try this’.
“So I wanted to try it. Now I can honestly say it worked for me – and I am going to have another treatment.”
Since leaving her abusive marriage, Mel has become an ambassador at domestic abuse charity Women’s Aid. In 2022, her work was recognised with an MBE.
She bravely revealed the extent of the abuse she suffered at the hands of ex Stephen, father of her 12-year-old daughter Madi, in her autobiography Brutally Honest.
She detailed how in December 2014, during the live X Factor shows, she tried to take her own life.
Mel has now updated the book, serialised today in The Sun on Sunday, and bravely writes about the moment she had the therapy as she once again became suicidal.
Deep in my head an electric current’s renewing, rewiring shocking thousands of neurons battered
by years of traumaMel B
She says: “In a remote part of an island in the Balearics, I am lying back in a padded chair as a man fixes a grey cap made from high-precision elasticated fabric on my head.
“He carefully checks that all my jewellery has been removed, then gently pulls a metal contraption – containing an intricate electromagnetic coil shaped into a figure of eight – and places it on the right side of my skull. Tick, tick, tick.
“A series of magnetic pulses shoots into my brain. Fifteen minutes pass. The coils move to the left side. Bang, bang, bang. This time it hurts. I close my eyes. Surrender. I hear the man’s voice, ‘Are you okay, Melanie?’
“My jaw is clenched tight, but I force out the words. ‘Keep going.’
“Somewhere deep inside this head of mine, an electric current generated by a hi-tech transcranial magnetic stimulation machine is renewing, rewiring and shocking thousands of neurons battered by years of extreme trauma, by depression I couldn’t admit to and anger I couldn’t shake.
“The pain I am feeling right now is fighting the pain I carry in my head, in my body, in every breath I take. It overwhelms me. A single tear leaks down my face.”
But she goes on: “I have finally found some peace and the sleep that has eluded me for years.”
Mel admits that on the outside her life looked happy since leaving her toxic marriage in 2017.
As Patron of Women’s Aid she has spoken in Westminster and at party conferences.
She also toured with the Spice Girls in 2019 and is now engaged to 34-year-old hairdresser Rory McPhee.
But she says that mental abuse continued because of ongoing family court custody cases, accusations and restrictions that saw her spending vast sums of money.
Trauma I kept locked inside me exploded into a wrecking ball of fear, confusion and an anger that I will never be able to articulate
Mel B
We told yesterday that she was so broke after leaving her abusive marriage, she shopped in budget store Lidl to save cash.
When her visa to live in America ran out in 2019 she wanted to move back to Leeds with her children Phoenix, 25, Angel, 16, and Madi.
She writes: “I had been awarded primary custody of Madi so I thought it would be no problem.
“In the months that followed, I was proved wrong. My ex was going to fight me all the way. The legal machine went into overdrive.”
She explains: “Madison was born in LA, she is an American citizen; she remains under the jurisdiction of the US courts. My hands were tied.
“As a US citizen, Madison had to return to school in LA. Then, in February 2020, Covid hit.
“The courts went silent, travel was suspended, and I was in Britain with my baby girl Madi thousands of miles away, talking to me – at a court-appointed time – once a day on FaceTime.
“Heartbroken, I had no option but to comply with Californian law.
“I drank too much, slept too little, and that trauma I kept locked inside me exploded into a wrecking ball of fear, confusion and an anger that I will never be able to articulate.
“I fought with the people I love. I was so very, very angry. I developed tics, my head jerking back and forth, making me feel even more out of control.”
The cycle continued until the autumn of 2023 when she broke down crying uncontrollably at home and Rory calmly told her that she needed to get proper help.
Mel writes: “In the hours that followed, I spoke to people I trust and to a therapist who recommended a clinic that dealt with extreme trauma.”
Even as she flew from Manchester Airport in dark glasses to disguise herself, she admits she thought she was “too broken, too damaged” to truly get help.
But she did it because she was determined to do everything she could to fight for her “beautiful” daughter, adding: “It’s all about Madi. It’s only ever Madi.”
– Brutally Honest by Melanie Brown and Louise Gannon (Quadrille, £10.99) publishes 7th March
New way to boost mood
TRANSCRANIAL Magnetic Stimulation is used for mental health conditions, especially for those people who have not responded well to traditional antidepressant medications or don’t want to take them.
It makes sense that Melanie has therefore tried this as well as other approaches that are not based around medicines.
“During the session an electromagnetic coil would be placed against her scalp near her forehead.
An electric current would then be passed through the coil and this generates a magnetic field that stimulates nerve cells in the region of the brain involved in mood regulation.
The theory is that it helps alleviate depression by regulating neurotransmitter levels and increasing neuronal activity in these areas.
It can be used for anxiety disorders, OCD, PTSD, and even certain types of chronic pain.
It’s generally considered safe but you can get a mild headache, scalp discomfort or pain at the stimulation site, lightheadedness and muscle twitching.
Serious side-effects are rare but can include seizures.
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It’s not an overnight fix and just like Melanie, most patients will have a few weeks of daily sessions that are about 20-30 minutes long.
I am so pleased it helped her and she is telling others who may benefit from the treatment if they are suitable for it.”
How you can get help
Women’s Aid has this advice for victims and their families:
- Always keep your phone nearby.
- Get in touch with charities for help, including the Women’s Aid live chat helpline and services such as SupportLine.
- If you are in danger, call 999.
- Familiarise yourself with the Silent Solution, reporting abuse without speaking down the phone, instead dialing “55”.
- Always keep some money on you, including change for a pay phone or bus fare.
- If you suspect your partner is about to attack you, try to go to a lower-risk area of the house – for example, where there is a way out and access to a telephone.
- Avoid the kitchen and garage, where there are likely to be knives or other weapons. Avoid rooms where you might become trapped, such as the bathroom, or where you might be shut into a cupboard or other small space.
If you are a victim of domestic abuse, SupportLine is open Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 6pm to 8pm on 01708 765200. The charity’s email support service is open weekdays and weekends during the crisis – messageinfo@supportline.org.uk.
Women’s Aid provides a live chat service – available weekdays from 8am-6pm and weekends 10am-6pm.
You can also call the freephone 24-hour National Domestic Abuse Helpline on 0808 2000 247.
