The Rupaul's Drag Race icon has long been an advocate of mental health awareness, but admitted that she still felt blindsided when her daughter shared her suicidal thoughts.
Nonetheless, she said that being open when getting help was key to demolishing the stigma surrounding mental illness.
"My daughter just came out of two years of severe, crippling, suicidal depression – but most people don't treat children with mental illness as someone who's genuinely unwell," she told Daily Star Online exclusively.
"It's all 'man up, shut up and move on'. That's why the suicide rate among teens is so high, because they're not taken seriously," she went on.
Michelle has a history of anxiety but insisted that over time she had got better at managing her condition.
She said that ignorance was to blame in cases of mental health being too easily dismissed or underfunded.
"It's so much about education. Most of the time it's ignorance rather than hatefulness. Education is key to people changing their opinion, so if people don't understand mental health issues, it's our job to educate them," she added.
"Going through it with my daughter has been massively eye-opening. LGBTQ kids in particular are at risk and we need to stop them taking their lives."
Michelle and her daughter have teamed up on a project to help parents of children with mental illness get the help they need.
She hopes that she can help parents who felt as overwhelmed as she did when faced with her daughter's diagnosis.
"My child genuinely didn't want to be on this earth anymore and it's like, what the f*** do I do? Many parents don't know how to deal with a struggling child," she continued.
As for why so many teens struggle with mental health issues, Michelle blamed social media.
"The world is scarier than ever for kids – I didn't even have a cellphone in the 80s. It's easy to say millenials are spoilt, but they must feel so overwhelmed."
She said that Instagram could be a breeding ground for insecurity with the rise of selfie culture.
"I try and reassure her, but she looks at her feed and gets upset if people don't think that she's pretty. We've come a long way and she knows that, but try telling a thirteen-year-old she's beautiful and most of them don't care," she said.
Michelle has had to deal with countless trolls over the years, but conceded that she was still shocked by the depths of some bullies' cruelty.
"There are some truly evil keyboard warriors out there. They don't care about the impact they have on people, because they're so angry and full of self-loathing that they have tp take it out on other people.
"Honestly, I feel bad for the bullies, they need help and attention."
Michelle has teamed up with conference call provider powwownow.co.uk for the I-Conquered campaign.
For confidential support, call the Samaritans on 116 123 or visit a local Samaritans branch. See www.samaritans.org for details.
