Lark Voorhies 2012 Bipolar Disorder: 'Saved by the Bell' Star's Mom Tells 'People' Daughter Battles Illness [VIDEO]

Actress Lark Voorhies, better-known by "Saved by the Bell" fans as the fashionable and spunky Lisa Turtle, has bipolar disorder. The 1990s star's mom recently admitted to People that her daughter is currently battling the manic-depressive illness. 64-year-old Tricia Voorhies has decided to speak up in order to squash rumors that her 38-year-old daughter is on drugs and underwent plastic surgery - according to Tricia, "There are things that have traumatized her... I care deeply about my daughter and I want her to resume her life."

Rumors that something may be wrong with the former teen star began to surface when a Yahoo! video - featuring a rather rundown and different-looking Lark Voorhies - went viral on the web. Many people blamed her odd appearance and actions on drugs or botched plastic surgery - or a combo of both. Such rumors were augmented when People magazine admitted that during a recent series of interviews with the actress, she would often stop talking "mid-sentence" and mumble to herself.

Lark vehemently denies the rumors, and now her own mother has stepped forward to set the story straight. Tricia claims that Lark (the two live together in Pasadena, California) has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. But according to Lark, nothing is wrong - her mother is just "over-loving" and worries too much.

When People questioned Lark about her "vacant stares and rambling moments" during the interview, the actress said - "I have a strong spiritual sense. You caught me in moments of pray." And according to Yahoo.com, Lark was also defiant about getting psychiatric help for the "voices in her head" - "They can't explain it," she supposedly said. "They can't treat it. They don't know about it."

The entire Lark Voorhies interview can be read in the recent issue of People.

While Lark denies that she has been diagnosed with the manic-depressive illness, she claims that she currently keeps busy by appearing in low-budget indie films, recording music, and self-publishing her own books.

Here is the original Yahoo! video that sparked all the Voorhies rumors: