We hear a lot about postpartum depression, a condition that can be debilitating and leaves some mothers ashamed if they’re affected by it.
The reality is that PPD can happen to any woman who gave birth.
Thanks to these celebs, the stigma of PPD is a thing of the past.
Follow this link for a comprehensive guide to understanding and treating pregnancy and postpartum mental disorders such as depression and anxiety, an issue which affects an unbelievable 13 percent (at a minimum) of new moms.
Then scroll below for many empowering celebrity stories.
Gwyneth Paltrow
Paltrow experienced PPD after having son Moses in 2006. “I expected to have another period of euphoria following his birth, much the way I had when my daughter was born two years earlier,” Paltrow wrote on GOOP. “Instead I was confronted with one of the darkest and most painfully debilitating chapters of my life.”
Hayden Panettiere
The Nashville star sought treatment twice for post-partum depression. “I’m really happy that I can stand up for the women who are out there suffering from this and let them know it’s okay,†Panettiere told People at the 2016 Critics Choice Awards. “They’re not alone. It doesn’t mean they’re weak. It doesn’t mean they’re a bad mom. It doesn’t mean they’re strange. They can get help if they need it, and that’s okay.â€Â
Brooke Shields
Shields wrote a book on her post-partum depression, ‘Down Came The Rain: My Journey With Postpartum Depression.’ In the book, Shields talked about feeling disconnected from her infant, Rowan. “Rowan kept crying, and I began to dread the moment when Chris would bring her back to me. I started to experience a sick sensation in my stomach; it was as if a vise were tightening around my chest. Instead of the nervous anxiety that often accompanies panic, a feeling of devastation overcame me,” Shields recalled. “I also didn’t feel like I wanted to get too close to Rowan. I wasn’t afraid she was too fragile; I just felt no desire to pick her up. Every time I have ever been near a baby, any baby, I have always wanted to hold the child. It shocked me that I didn’t want to hold my own daughter.”
Amanda Peet
Peet told Gotham Magazine that she was “sleep-deprived beyond belief” after giving birth, and felt that everything “came crashing down” when her daughter was born. “I want to be honest about it because I think there’s still so much shame when you have mixed feelings about being a mom instead of feeling this sort of ‘bliss,’” she said. “I think a lot of people still really struggle with that, but it’s hard to find other people who are willing to talk about it.”
Courteney Cox
Cox’s PPD didn’t settle in until her daughter, Coco was around six months old. “I couldn’t sleep. My heart was racing. And I got really depressed,” she admitted to USA Today.
Marie Osmond
In her memoir, ‘Behind The Smile: My Journey Out of Postpartum Depression,’ Osmond talked about her own struggle. After giving birth to her youngest child, she had been warned by her doctor to take it easy. “I thought his advice was for somebody else. It couldn’t be for anyone as tough as me. I could handle it,” Osmond wrote. “I could have a baby and get right back to work. I could get my family moved, make business decisions, get back in shape. I could get past the ‘baby blues.’ I could do whatever needed to be done. Five minutes later, I was sitting on the kitchen floor, heaving with sobs and all I could think was, ‘This can’t be happening to me.’ This couldn’t be me, collapsing in hysteria, not even recognizing my own wails.”
Bryce Dallas Howard
“It is strange for me to recall what I was like at that time. I seemed to be suffering emotional amnesia,” Howard said in an interview on GOOP. “I couldn’t genuinely cry, or laugh, or be moved by anything. For the sake of those around me, including my son [Theo], I pretended, but when I began showering again in the second week, I let loose in the privacy of the bathroom, water flowing over me as I heaved uncontrollable sobs.”
Lisa Rinna
“After having my first daughter Delilah, I had severe postpartum depression,†Lisa Rinna told Dr. Drew. “I kept it a secret. I didn’t say a word to anybody in the world. [My husband] thought I was just nuts. He had no idea what was going on and I was so hopeless and felt so lost.â€Â
Vanessa Lachey
“I didn’t feel like myself,” Lachey wrote on her blog after having son, Camden. “Where was the super woman who always thought and knew she could do it all? Where was the organized Vanessa who had it all under control no matter what the obstacle? She was gone, and I thought… forever.”
Alanis Morissette
“I am predisposed to depression, but what surprised me this time was the physical pain,” Morrisette told You Magazine. “I hadn’t realized the depths to which you can ache – limbs, back, torso, head, everything hurt – and it went on for 15 months. I felt as if I was covered in tar and everything took 50 times more effort than normal.”
Drew Barrymore
Barrymore experienced PPD with her second daughter, Frankie. “The second time, I was like, ‘Oh, whoa, I see what people talk about now. I understand,'” she told People. “It’s a different type of overwhelming with the second. I really got under the cloud.â€Â
Melissa Rycroft
“I’ve learned not to be embarrassed or ashamed of what I’m going through,” Rycroft told The Bump after having daughter, Ava. “At first, I tried bringing it up as a joke around my friends to see how they’d react. I found out that a lot of my friends had gone through similar situations. Some had given birth just a few months before me. So it was nice to know that I’m not alone in my situation. Your body goes through a lot while you’re pregnant, and you just can’t control everything. I like to be in control!”
Carnie Wilson
“I cried all day over everything,” Wilson told People Magazine after having daughter, Lola in 2005. “It’s a physical feeling. I don’t know how to describe it. You’re overwhelmed with love and joy, then sadness and fear. You’re so afraid you’re going to fail this baby. What if you drop her or hurt her? She’s totally dependent on you and it’s scary.”
Chrissy Teigen
Click on the headline above to read about Teigen’s long-time struggles.