Carrie Fisher has been honoured for her work raising awareness of bipolar disorder by speaking out about her own battle with the condition.

The Star Wars actress was diagnosed as bipolar when she was in her 20s and she has been open about her struggle with mental illness, even revealing she underwent regular electro-shock therapy to help her cope with bouts of depression.

Fisher has now been praised for her candour and handed the Kim Peek Award for Disability in Media by the Utah Film Center.

She received the honour, named after Kim Peek, the man who inspired 1988 movie Rain Man, at the Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center in Salt Lake City, Utah on Friday night (09Nov12).