Sharon Osbourne details 'utter breakdown' behind The Talk absence

Sharon Osbourne took five weeks off from The Talk in the spring of 2015 after she "collapsed from mental and physical fatigue." Nearly a year-and-a-half later, she is ready to reveal on the CBS show's season 7 premiere what she went through.

"I have got a good grip on the problem that I have," Osbourne said Monday. "I'm in control; it doesn't control me. ... If I can help somebody else along the way, I would feel great to be able to give whatever advice or just what I went through to help somebody else, so they don't feel ashamed or anything like that."

After taking on too much work, Osbourne "had a complete and utter breakdown" and awoke at Los Angeles' Cedars-Sinai hospital. "For probably three days, I knew nothing," she said. "I couldn't think, I couldn’t talk; I could do nothing. My brain just shut down on me." Osbourne then checked into a facility for further diagnosis of her mental condition, noting how effective group therapy was for her once she exited a foggy state of being.

"It took me days before I could even speak — I didn't want to speak, I didn’t want to eat, I didn't want talk to anyone, and I couldn't keep thoughts in my head," she said. "My head was like whirlpool going around and around and around, and not one thought would stay in."

Looking back, Osbourne says she can retroactively notice the warning signs that led to her breakdown, adding there's nothing her Talk co-hosts, friends, or family could have done. The 63-year-old wanted to let those know who might be suffering from a mental disorder that it's not a dire situation.

"People out there, I want you to realize that there is so much help out there," Osbourne said. "It's nothing to be ashamed about. It really isn't. If you had a bad leg, you'd tell everybody you had a bad leg. I just got a bad head."