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Emma Heming Willis: Caring for Bruce has taken its toll on my mental health

Emma Willis opens up about caring for Bruce after he was diagnosed with a brain condition credit:Bang Showbiz
Emma Willis opens up about caring for Bruce after he was diagnosed with a brain condition credit:Bang Showbiz

Emma Heming Willis has admitted that caring for husband Bruce Willis has "taken a toll" on her mental health.

The 67-year-old actor has been married to model Emma, 43, since 2009 and has daughters Evelyn, seven and Mabel, nine, with her but was recently diagnosed with aphasia - a degenerative condition affecting the ability to communicate - and his wife has opened up about how she now "struggles" every day.

She said: "I struggle with making the time for self-care every day. I put my family’s needs above my own, which I found does not make me any kind of hero. That amount of care for everyone else within my household had taken a toll on my mental health and overall health, and it served no one in my family."

The 'Expendables' star - who is also father to Rumer, 33, Scout, 30 and Tallulah, 28, with ex-wife Demi Moore - went on to explain that it dawned on her that she had begun to "under-care" for herself as she was "over-caring" for her husband, who announced back in March that he would retire from acting as a result of the diagnosis.

Emma told The Bump: "Someone told me not long ago that when you over-care for someone, you end up under-caring for yourself. That stopped me in my tracks and really resonated with me. I don’t mother myself perfectly but I know that I have some basic baseline needs that are a must, like first and foremost, exercise. It’s a time I can disconnect and can do something that I know makes me feel good overall. I think it’s important to find that one thing that makes you feel good and build from there."