Roxanne Pallet has said she was diagnosed with complicated post-traumatic stress disorder after her tumultuous time on Celebrity Big Brother.

According to Closer Magazine, the former Emmerdale star has been living in a virtual hermit for the past ten months, feeling “more hated than a murderer”

Last August, the 37-year-old sparked outrage when she claimed Ryan Thomas, a former Coronation Street star, hit her in the ribs in an effort to injure her in the CelebrityBig Brother house.

However, the cameras revealed that he just poked her in a lighthearted manner, and after reviewing the video, she realized she’d made a huge mistake, according to Mirror Online.

The infamous ‘Punchgate’ event put her life in shambles as she received enormous backlash.

The actor revealed that she is now facing a severe kind of post-traumatic stress disorder and that she is still nervous about discussing it.

Ryan was devastated by her claims ( Image: Supplied by WENN)

She’s told Closer magazine that, “It’s been a real mountain to climb, for me to get to this point today. I’ve been nervous about it, because my confidence has taken a knock.

“It’s daunting, as people still have their opinions of me, which they are completely entitled to. It’s bad enough when one person doesn’t like you, but when thousands are against you… But I do understand it.

“The last few months have been the most valuable and rewarding of my life. I’ve completely reset my mind and my thoughts. I went off the grid for therapy, which was needed for my mental health.”

Roxanne says she regrets ending her brief affair with now-ex-fiancé Lee Walton, 40, and deleting her social media amid an onslaught of abuse.

She told the publication: “I absolutely regret what happened on the show, one hundred per cent. I got it monumentally wrong, and I’m sorry to Ryan and his family, for the pain I inflicted on him and others who were watching.

“I think it’s important, when you’ve done something wrong, that you immediately hold your hands up and make sure everyone knows you’re sorry.”

“All I could do was take myself away, figure out why I reacted that way, rebuild myself into a better person and hope that people would one day show me some compassion,” she continued.

Roxanne claims she felt “more hated than a murderer” when she read headlines about herself and what occurred there.

Roxanne’s life fell apart after CBB ( Image: TV Grab)

Roxanne received cognitive behavioral treatment (CBT) and EMDR (eye movement desensitization and reprocessing) during her time off, and she was diagnosed with PTSD as a result.

Roxanne has been outspoken about her mental health concerns after being trapped in a house fire when she was 16, being in an abusive relationship, and dealing with the suicide of her closest friend and the loss of her grandmother in rapid succession. And she feels that these concerns are tied closely to her behavior on CBB, as well as her decision to leave Celebrity Island With Bear Grylls after only five days.

She said: ‘Everyone has struggles, and I’m not using mine to justify my behaviour. But looking back, I should have got help 20 years ago.

‘Two weeks before Celebrity Big Brother, I’d been in a car crash and the minute it happened I was on edge and defensive. I was hiding a huge breakdown.

‘My mind had gone to mush, I was getting flashbacks of the house fire and I wasn’t thinking straight. I kept changing my mind and being erratic.

‘I was jumping to conclusions that weren’t accurate, yet still I laughed and put on a pretense. These invisible wounds were destroying me.’

She continued: “After shutting myself away, I knew I had to go from hiding to healing. Reading the online comments was the breakthrough moment. I read one that said ‘she needs help’, and that was the defining moment, because it was true.

“My doctor put me on antidepressants for panic disorder and depression and I got in contact with a mental health charity who put me in touch with a therapist in Scotland, who was shocked at the state of me. I told him I’d been feeling like this since I was 16, and asked him to make it go away.

“He said the car crash had triggered PTSD from anxiety from previous traumas in my life and he immediately diagnosed me.”

She added: “Now I’m much calmer, I’m less argumentative and defensive, and I’ll have EMDR (eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing) and CBT therapy for as long as I need. I’ve had to go back to some horrible chapters and relive them, in order to fix them and stop them from controlling me.”

Roxanne says she’s become the greatest version of herself since obtaining therapy, and she’s optimistic about the future.

She said: “Last year doesn’t define my life. It was two weeks out of 36 years, but CBB was the biggest wake-up call of my life – and the most valuable lesson. It broke me, but then it made me.

“For now, my priorities have changed. Life isn’t about a career or success, it’s about being healthy and happy. I’ve already been working with mental health groups, sharing my story and helping others. I want to use my platform and be an advocate for mental health, and piece myself together. It might take the rest of my life, but that’s OK.”