Whoopi Goldberg recalls how she saved her mother from taking her own life before she was sent away to a psychiatric hospital for two years and given electric shock therapy: 'We were told nothing'

Whoopi Goldberg has revealed that she didn't see her mother for two years from the age of eight because she was sent away to New York City's Bellevue psychiatric hospital after she attempted to take her own life.

Writing in her new memoir, Bits and Pieces: My Mother, My Brother, And Me, the 68-year-old actor recalls feeling 'protective and p**sed off' as neighbors watched as mom Emma was helped into an ambulance in the early 1960s.

In the book, which will be released on May 7, Whoopi - whose real name is Caryn Elaine Johnson - describes the day when she came home from school and found her mother looking 'disheveled' and barefoot while 'muttering incoherently' and being confused about where she was.

According to The US Sun, Whoopi writes: 'I watched as she went over to the oven, turned it on, and put her head in there. I was old enough to know this was really bad news. I ran over and grabbed her around the waist and pulled her out.'

Whoopi Goldberg has revealed that she didn't see her mother, Emma Johnson, for two years from the age of eight because she was sent away to a psychiatric hospital

The 68-year-old opened up about new memoir Bits and Pieces: My Mother, My Brother, And Me on Wednesday's episode of The View

Whoopi said she decided to write the book because she was 'starting to forget a lot of stuff'

The actor recalled how she stopped her mother from taking her own life back in the 1960s

During Wednesday's episode of The View, Whoopi opened up about such extracts from her new memoir during an interview with the panel, including Joy Behar.

Joy, 81, said: 'You write in the book that when you were a kid your mother had what they used to call a nervous breakdown? She had a difficult, difficult time and she taken to Bellevue, that's scary right there.

'And you didn't really know what happened to her for two years, right? And then she came back and she didn't really remember the two of you? Who was taking care of you and Clyde?' she asked, referring to Whoopi's older brother, who was 14 at the time.

'Our cousin, Arlene, she took care of us, and my dad showed up and he took care of us, but in those days kids were told nothing, parents just disappeared, things happened,' Whoopi explained.

'And for me it was really kind of like, "oh, so they've taken her to this hospital and no one's going to tell me anything and I can't go see her,"' the Sister Act star continued.

'They just never mentioned it because you didn't do that, but we didn't know any better, we didn't know that. Now we discuss everything with children and maybe that's not the greatest thing to be doing.'

When Joy asked Whoopi what happened to her mom at Bellevue, the Ghost actor confirmed: 'They gave her electroshock treatments.'

Turning to the live studio audience, Whoopi then said: 'So, here's another reason why you must really pay attention to what's going on politically because there was a time in this country where your husband or your brother or any man involved in your life could make medical decisions for you.

Whoopi recalled how she she came home from school one day and found her mother looking 'disheveled' and 'muttering incoherently'

The Oscar winning actor spoke to her cohosts, Sunny Hostin (center) and Alyssa Farah Griffin (right), about her new book

Whoopi also writes about older brother Clyde in the book, who sadly died of a brain aneurysm in May 2015

'So my mother's father, my grandfather, and my dad okayed it. They okayed that my mother get the shock treatment for two years.'

Alyssa Farah Griffin then said: 'My jaw hit the floor that in your lifetime that was still legal,' as Sunny Hostin agreed and said: 'I was shocked as well,' before describing Whoopi's words as 'so vulnerable.'

Whoopi, whose mother passed away in 2010 after suffering a stroke, responded: 'The thing about grief is that... I say it in the book, you have to understand people don't know what to say, they don't know how to respond.

'So my mom passed and I would get really annoyed with people and think, "What do you mean how do I feel?" Then I realized they haven't had the experience so they don't know, so you can't be pissed at people because they're trying to be kind.'

When Sara Haines asked her why it felt like the right time to write a book about her mother and brother, who sadly died of a brain aneurysm in May 2015 at the age of 66, Whoopi admitted: 'I'm not sure.

'I don't know, but I knew that I had to do it and I wasn't sure whether I was in deep... something about missing them because they've been gone a while now.

'And so I think I was just starting to forget a lot of stuff because when you have a sibling or you have somebody that's been with you from the beginning, they can say, "No, it didn't happen that way, it happened this way", but everyone's gone and so I have memories of things that happened but I don't have specific dates or times.'

She then joked: 'So in the book, I said I probably should have started the book by saying this may or may not have happened exactly the way I said it. It happened but, you know, I can't tell you when!'

Whoopi admitted that her daughter Alexandrea Martin was 'early annoyed' with her later on in life for 'leaving' when she got famous

Whoopi pictured with her daughter and her second husband David Claessen in 1986

Elsewhere in the chat, Whoopi admitted that her daughter Alexandrea Martin 'got really annoyed' with her later in life for 'leaving' her when she found fame as an actor. 

Referring to a comment she made earlier about not telling children things, Whoopi said: 'I had to deal with this with my daughter, because when I got famous I didn't realize that I too was leaving her because she and I had been like this,' as she pulled her arms together.

'We were our own band, like me and my mother and my brother, we were that and so when she got really annoyed with me later in life, I said, "what is the problem?" and I realized, "oh my god, I did the same thing that my mother did", except that it wasn't my mother's choice, I knew I was leaving.

'I knew why I was leaving and tried to explain it, which you can't do to an eight-year-old because they only have eight years of life, which means they maybe have four.'

Viewers tuning in at home took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to share their thoughts on the interview as one person said: 'Whoopi is blowing me away with this information... #theview.'

Another person posted: 'It’s interesting listening to Whoopi recount her childhood #TheView.'

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