Dascha Polanco breaks silence on depression battle

Orange Is The New Black star Dascha Polanco has opened up about her battle with depression, revealing therapy has helped her to understand it's OK to feel low.

The Dominican-American actress, who plays pregnant Dayanara Diaz in the hit prison series, admits she used to hide the blues until the death of her mother made life unbearable at times.

The 32 year old tells Latina magazine, "I went through a large depression and started feeling emotionally isolated, but because my parents taught me that God is going to send you obstacles and you have to overcome them, it put me at ease.

"It's very interesting, the times I've felt that I can't breathe emotionally, and I react to things in a very impulsive manner... Mental health is a big issue and I think it's ignored a lot in the Latino community... and being able to speak to somebody about that was kind of a revelation that it was OK for me to feel depressed."