Being Pregnant
In Their Own Words: 10 Famous Women Who Suffered Postpartum Depression and How They Got Better
Heather Armstrong bravely chronicled her struggle with PPD as it was happening to her. (Image: Dooce.com)
About 13 percent of women who give birth develop postpartum depression, a serious, long-lasting condition that’s more than just “baby blues.” Half of those women develop severe postpartum depression.
Postpartum depression affects a mother’s relationship with her baby, other children in the family, her husband, studies have even shown it can affect the baby’s behavior.
The good news? More women are coming forward to publicly talk about their struggles with PPD. Their bravery and openness goes a long way in removing the stigma that many women experience – specifically that they should feel guilty about their feelings and they are somehow failing at motherhood.
Exhaustion, sleep deprivation, and other stressors take their toll. Postpartum depression can happen to anyone, including new dads!
Below you’ll find ten famous women who suffered from postpartum depression. They talk about their experience and explain what finally helped them recover. A common thread you’ll notice is that many of these women thought postpartum depression meant you spent all day crying. Not necessarily. Depression is a subtle, sneaky sucker. Particularly if you’ve never experienced it before. You feel feel horrible. Then you feel horrible for feeling horrible all the time and think there’s something wrong with you or you just don’t have the motherhood instinct and you don’t realize it isn’t your fault. As Marie Osmond says, “That’s the sad part about depression, is it really takes away all your logic, your rationale.”
How She Got Better: "I went to the doctor and found out my hormones had been pummeled." Taking the steroid hormone progesterone helped Cox. She also got support from close friends including Brooke Shields, who famously suffered and conquered her own bouts with postpartum depression."
Source: TheFrisky
Image: FabJaunty.com.
If you think you might be suffering from postpartum depression get help by clicking here! You are not alone.
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5 Comments
Samantha at ShesNotBroken commented on Dec 08 11 at 11:08 amI find it frustrating that Heather Armstrong is the only person who straight out says she got medical help. Not every case of PPD will just fade away with a little exercise, some time, and maybe a sub-therapeutic dose of antidepressant. It’s not something you can just walk off. Even harder is that a lot of OBs and midwives aren’t well-versed in how to treat PPD, what you can take and still breastfeed (something that was super important to me). I was lucky enough to be treated by a psychiatrist who worked exclusively with PPD; everything I took would have been off the table per my OB (which was basically anything except zoloft). Instead, she was willing to research everything with me, to check through LactMed, and to offer bloodwork to triple check if I was still concerned about peak plasma levels. There is no shame in getting help, regardless of whether it’s medical help or not.
Alicia commented on Dec 08 11 at 3:31 pmBut not everyone needs medication or intense therapy to get out of PPD. It affects everyone differently, so of course these actresses all had different things that helped them. There’s a lot more at work that determines how and when a woman gets out of PPD. Some of us need only medication, some need only therapy, some only need something from within themselves, and some of us need the whole enchilada. Some of even turn out to have an entirely different mental disorder altogether! So what I find disappointing is the lack of ability to see that PPD affects different women in different ways, and they have different ways of dealing with it.
Amber @Beyond Postpartum commented on Dec 08 11 at 7:55 pmPerinatal Mood Disorders are very common, but that doesn’t make them normal. It is helpful when celebrities speak out about PPD because it reinforces the fact that no amount of money, support, childcare help, etc. can completely prevent or cure PPD. Treatment (of which there are many different viable options) is typically necessary, but PPD and related disorders are 100% treatable and recovery is possible for everyone with good care and support. Many of us blog about and provide peer support for women- seek us out through networks like Postpartum Support International and Postpartum Progress.
Taz commented on Dec 09 11 at 12:34 ami think that talking about the differences between ppd and postpartum psychosis is very important. obsessive thoughts about guns and knives sounds to me like it could be closer to psychosis. i’m glad that ppd has so much visibility these days and so many celebrities willing to talk about their experiences, but someone needs to bring up ppp so that spouses and loved ones are aware of its seriousness and what they can do to help.
Rebecca commented on Mar 02 12 at 10:44 pmI agree with Samantha. Why is Heather Armstrong the only survivor here who REALLY was open about how meds helped her get better? Why doesnt Brooke mention it in her piece? Not being open about options (including drugs, talk therapy, accupuncture, exercise, etc.) to get through PPD and related disorders reinforces the myth that it’s just “baby blues” and that women should just suck it up and it’ll go away.
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