Actress Lark Voorhies, who became a child star as the fashion-loving Lisa Turtle in the TV series “Saved By the Bell,” has been diagnosed as having bipolar disorder, according to People magazine.
Doctors first noticed something was wrong when she began alternating between moments of pure joy and constant chatter to times of prolonged silence, coupled with a vacant stare – within a matter of minutes.
“It’s frustrating… They can’t explain it… I care deeply about my daughter and I want her to resume her life,” Lark’s mom Tricia tells People.
The actress, now 38, was recently prescribed medication to help deal with the mental illness, but Tricia insists the condition was brought on by a series of undisclosed events, which left the actress traumatized.
She refuses to divulge further details, saying, “I don’t want to go there,” but Tricia adds her daughter was devastated when her career stalled after the show’s final episode in 1993 and her marriage to husband Miguel Coleman fell apart in 2001.
However, she does have hope Lark will pull through: “She’s trying so hard. She says she’s delayed, but she’s going to get there.”
