Actress and aspiring politician Ashley Judd, who once described herself as "absolutely certifiably crazy" and in need of a "psychological support" dog, suffers from mood-altering bipolar disorder, according to a new report

Deep in a friendly Huffington Post story which all but declared she was running against Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, reporter Howard Fineman revealed: "She writes movingly and openly about the challenges she faces from her bipolar disorder."

She has often talked about her depression and troubled childhood, but the diagnosis of bipolar disorder is more blunt than the co-dependency Judd has talked about.

It's another reason for Democrats to be wary of her bid in Kentucky. Some are already concerned about her liberal Hollywood roots and comments about motherhood and men.

But the Huffington Post story draws new attention to the famed actress's depression and how she's dealt with it. Judd has said that while visiting her country-singing sister Wynona Judd at a treatment center in 2006, counselors suggested she check her self in too.

She told ABC in 2012, "What I said was, 'I'm so tired of holding up all this pain, I'm so glad to come to treatment.'"

In her biography "All That Is Bitter and Sweet" she blamed her depression on a turbulent childhood of abuse and loneliness.

In the ABC interview, she said that she kept her registered "psychological support" dog Shug at her side.

In a 2006 Today Show interview after her treatment, she told Matt Lauer that it helps for her to talk about her depression. "I was absolutely certifiably crazy and now I get to have a solution, and for those who are co-dependent or suffer from depression, there is a solution."