Beyond the Gates star Daphnée Duplaix is continuing her countdown to 50 by sharing 50 lessons over 50 days, and lesson number nine comes from one of the hardest experiences of her life.
The actress, who plays Dr. Nicole Dupree Richardson, used her latest Instagram video to explain why she believes “sleep is health care,” opening up about years of poor rest, daily prescription medication and a six-month struggle so severe she feared she could not keep going if life became worse.
Daphnée Duplaix Shares Her Ninth Lesson Before Turning 50
Duplaix opened the video by saying, “Sleep is health care.” She explained how the words come “from a place of lived experience” after struggling with sleep since high school. During those years, she often got only three or four hours of rest, and it was “never a good sleep either.” Exhaustion left her extremely grumpy in the morning before she walked to school and stopped at a corner store for a Coke and a chocolate bar.
The actress jokingly called the food her “breakfast of champions” because she needed a sugar kick. Poor sleep continued into adulthood, while her attempts to stay awake became more extreme. “It was two cups of coffee and three Red Bulls,” she recalled, before admitting the routine was “just not healthy.” Duplaix later started using prescription sleep medication and took it “every single day” until “it actually stopped working.”
Lesson number nine forms part of a personal project ahead of Duplaix’s 50th birthday. She has promised to share 50 lessons over 50 days, giving followers insights based on her own experiences.
Sleep became the subject of her latest post because years of poor rest eventually pushed her into a frightening period she described as the worst time of her life.
Duplaix’s Sleep Problems Reached A Frightening Breaking Point
Around three years ago before joining Beyond the Gates, Duplaix’s condition became far more severe. For six months, she was “waking up every hour on the hour,” leaving her unable to get proper rest. “I truly, truly thought I was going insane,” she admitted, describing how badly the experience affected her.
Duplaix then revealed a thought she never imagined having. “I don’t think I can be on this planet if this is only gonna get worse,” she recalled. Saying those words openly carried deep meaning for the actress because she never expected to reach such a painful place.
Seeking another path, Duplaix turned to alternative health practitioners, something she said she has long done whenever a problem appears. She described finding a fascia specialist and spoke about connective tissue, explaining her belief in links between different problems in the body.
Duplaix also said healing can happen through consistency. After her third visit, she finally slept for five hours. “I truly, truly feel like he saved my life,” she said Stay tuned to Soap Opera Daily for more Beyond the Gates spoilers and behind-the-scenes updates.