Billie Piper says therapy has helped her overcome challenges in life.

The actress, 38, said she was not open about it in the past “because of my upbringing”.

There was “a general sort of scoffing at the unpacking of your problems, especially if you’ve been successful, it’s this sort of, ‘Why do you need therapy?’,” she said

But she told The Guardian: “Now I’m that really annoying person who suggests therapy to everyone.”

The former singer also spoke of having professional success at such a young age, saying:  “It just seems so wildly unsafe….

“There were also some brilliant things that came out of that time in my life that have really set me up quite well now.

“But it’s not something that I would feel comfortable showing my children, as an experience,” the mother-of-three said.

And  Piper, who has written and directed Rare Beasts, a film in which she also stars, told the newspaper: “I know about dysfunctional relationships. I know about what it costs to be a woman.”