Barrymore refuses to consider anti-depressants

Drew Barrymore refuses to take any type of anti-depressant medication because she is terrified it could change her personality - even though she suffers from crippling panic attacks.

The Charlie's Angels beauty accepts medication helped her father, but she remains convinced the drugs would stifle her emotions and leave her a different person.

She explains: "Every single medical expert says (panic attacks) are not real. So you're like: 'But how come when my throat is closing up, I'm blind with dizziness, I can't catch my breath, and I am hot and faint and want to rip my skin off and am convinced I'm going to die, that's so real to me?'

"I had some specialist recommend a daily drug, but I don't want to do it because I don't want to suppress my emotions. I would never take a pill. I did see that it worked on my own father."

Barrymore reconciled with her father John Drew Barrymore, after a long period of estrangement, shortly before his death from cancer in 2004.

She adds: "He went from acting like an absolute insane maniac to a semi-insane maniac, and it was a great improvement for him, so I really believe in that stuff."