Celebrities With Postpartum Depression

Former CIA Agent Says Espionage Is Easy Compared To Postpartum Depression

By Katherine Stone April 25, 2012 4 Comments

Postpartum depression is harder than covert operations for the CIA. So says Valerie Plame Wilson, former agent and author who went through postpartum depression, in an interview with NPR:

” … her experience with postpartum depression after giving birth to twins in 2000 tested her in ways that espionage never did, she told NPR’s Tell Me More’sTuesday.”

Plame Wilson wrote a chapter about having had PPD in her book Fair Game. I interviewed her about the book in 2008 for BlogHer, and we went into much more depth about her experience with PPD. I thought you might like to listen to the 30-minute discussion, as she goes into further detail than the NPR story.

Wilson is now the honorary board chair of Postpartum Support Virginia.

April 25, 2012 1:00 pm Filed Under: Celebrities With PPD, News

Actress Bryce Dallas Howard on Her Battle With Postpartum Depression

By Katherine Stone August 2, 2011

NPR covered the topic of postpartum depression this week and featured Heidi Koss of PSI of Washington. Way to go Heidi!!!

Also, I love this video from Access Hollywood featuring actress Bryce Dallas Howard talking about her second pregnancy and her experience the first time around with postpartum depression. She doesn’t know it, but she’s a Warrior Mom! (FYI, there’s a short ad prior to the video.)

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

August 2, 2011 10:11 am Filed Under: Celebrities With PPD, Postpartum Depression

Does What Gwyneth Paltrow Says About Postpartum Depression Affect You?

By Katherine Stone June 13, 2011

I read last week that Gwyneth Paltrow said she plans on avoiding having any more children to head off any potential recurrence of postpartum depression. The UK’s Daily Mirror quoted the famous celebrity as saying:

“Looking at Moses makes me want to have another one, he is sooo gorgeous! But I don’t think so. I don’t know if I can go there again, not sleep and be depressed for two years. I felt like a zombie.”

This statement, which was then republished all over entertainment websites and celebrity baby blogs, made me think. Will it lead other women who’ve been through postpartum depression to think they can’t or shouldn’t have more babies? Do they know that many of the women who have survived postpartum depression have gone on to have more children? Given that she is such a worldwide celebrity, I think it would be naive to assume that what Gwyneth says won’t have an impact on what some people think.

Whether to have another baby is a personal decision. No one has to go down that route again, nor are they expected to do so. At the same time, I think women should know that you can have another baby and be just fine. I did, thanks to my treatment team and support from family and friends. You can also have another baby, suffer a perinatal mood or anxiety disorder again, and recover. There is no one right answer.

June 13, 2011 7:00 pm Filed Under: Celebrities With PPD

TV’s Brady Bunch Mom Had Postpartum Depression

By Katherine Stone January 21, 2011

Even one of television's most perfect moms, Florence Henderson, who played the mother on the show "The Brady Bunch," had postpartum depression. Florence will share her experience with PPD in her upcoming memoir due to be published this September. Henderson is the mother of four children. I'm looking forward to reading about what she went through, and glad she plans to share that experience with the public.

January 21, 2011 10:52 am Filed Under: Celebrities With PPD

Carnie Wilson To Perform At PSI Bright Lights Winter Gala

By Katherine Stone January 13, 2011

This Saturday night, Postpartum Support International will host its Bright Lights Winter Gala Celebration at 7pm at the Millenium Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles. The event will feature singer songwriter Carnie Wilson, a survivor of postpartum depression.

“In the past, I have been open about surviving postpartum depression,” says Carnie. “When Los Angeles County launched the ‘Speak Up When You’re Down’ Campaign last spring, I realized that I needed to speak up even more to lift the veil of stigma about this terrible illness so I’m making a plea to the medical community in Los Angeles to start recognizing this as a legitimate illness that must be screened for and treated just like gestational diabetes or Down syndrome as it affects every pregnant mom, her baby and her family. The chemistry in my uterus caused contractions making them real so why is the chemistry in my brain not regarded the same way?”

The PSI Gala will also include a brief program featuring LA Best Babies Network (LABBN), an organization dedicated to achieving healthy pregnancies and births in Los Angeles County by providing the infrastructure, programs, advocacy and support to increase the capacity of community partners to succeed in these efforts.

If you'd like to attend, visit www.postpartum.net.

January 13, 2011 12:26 pm Filed Under: Celebrities With PPD, Postpartum Depression

Gwyneth Paltrow Talks Postpartum Depression (And I Have A Magical Dream)

By Katherine Stone January 5, 2011

If you follow the term "postpartum depression" on Twitter, this week you could not possibly have missed 4,158,064,397 people retweet the fact that Gwyneth Paltrow shared a little bit more of her experience with postpartum depression in the February issue of Good Housekeeping.

If you aren't on Twitter, I link to the story here for you now. (Note: the postpartum depression part of the story is on pg. 4)

For more, here's how Gwyneth was covered at Cafe Mom's The Stir and also at AOL Health (which, I'm very excited to say, also link to my piece at ParentDish on PPD).

Glad Gwyneth Paltrow continues to be open to talking about postpartum depression! The more we talk, the better.

Now, if I could only get her to join the board of Postpartum Progress Inc. the Nonprofit …..

What? A girl can dream. Gwyneth seems like the earnest sort. I bet she'd be serious about kicking some PPD ass and getting more funding for more and better services for women. Or maybe I have no idea what I'm talking about. Anyway. Off to clear out my Twitter stream.

Tra la la …

January 5, 2011 9:57 pm Filed Under: Celebrities With PPD

When Will A Celebrity Survivor of Postpartum Depression Step Up to the Plate?

By Katherine Stone April 30, 2010

Hey ladies. Just thought we’d chat. Here’s a cup of coffee. Do you take cream? Sugar?

I’m thinking of all of you out there right now. Those of you who are in despair and trying to figure out what the hell is wrong. Those of you who have figured out that you have postpartum depression or postpartum anxiety/OCD or postpartum PTSD and have started treatment but still feel like you’ll never get better and worry about how this is affecting your child(ren). Those of you who are down the road to recovery and just waiting for the day when there are NO more bad days or bad thoughts or bad feelings. Those of you who have recovered fully. The women out there that are sick that don’t have access to good healthcare or the internet or any information to tell them they need to get help so they don’t suffer chronic depression for the rest of their lives. The women who are sitting in jail or psychiatric hospital because they fell through the cracks. And those of you who are psychologists and social workers and psychiatrists and nurses and midwives (etc.) and who care enough to get more information or perspectives on women who suffer to visit this blog.

Some days I wake up and I feel so positive. There’s some new piece of research on postpartum depression, or a great post or story I want to link to, or some idea I’ve had that I’m excited about. (Just got my first vlog sent in from an Australian reader this week – Weehee!)

Other days I’m frustrated bythe lack of attentionto perinatal mood and anxiety disordersamong the mainstream parenting websites or popular mommy blogs or media, wheneveryone seemsmore than happy to tweet or report about how to lose all your baby weight in 6.3 days or the latest research “proving” antidepressants don’t work. WTF? There are women who are hurting themselves or their babies because wearen’t paying enough attention to their risk factors and their symptoms. There are children who are going to suffer lasting behavioral consequences because their mothers didn’t receive any help. There are mothers who are desperate and are convinced they are alone and no one can help them.

Where are the celebrity moms who’ve had postpartum depression? Why is it that the only time you hear about their experiences with postpartum depression is when they have a new movie to promote or a new book coming out or a new clothing line or whatever? Yes, I’m talking to you Gwyneth Paltrow, Amanda Peet, Angie Harmon, Lisa Rinna, Brooke Shields, etc. Why is it that they haven’t used their considerable money and influence to become REAL and TRUE and DEDICATED spokeswomen for these illnesses? Not just people who show up at the occasional, paid speech, or speak out when it serves their own purpose, not just women who speak about it once or twice in Vogue, but women who believe in the cause with all their might and want to prevent the suffering of others and will stick it out for the long term. Is it because postpartum depression just isn’t “sexy” enough in the public arena, the way breast cancer is? Maybe they don’t realize how many women don’t have access to good care?

And where is the funding from all those organizations that care about preventing child abuse or ensuring strong family foundations or women’s health or mental health? Where are the deep pockets who can make sure that women in poverty have access to mental health care and transportation to get to that care and childcare to make sure they can leave their homes to get that care? Who can fund creating more specialists at medical schools? Who can fund major awareness campaigns like the ones that already exist for illnesses that impact far fewer people? Yes, I’m talking to you Annie E. Casey Foundation and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Kaiser Family Foundationand the WW Kellogg Foundationand the Foundation for Excellence in Women’s Healthcare.

Argh.

Anyway, I want you to know that you are all awesome. I love this blog and its wonderful band of followers. I’m so unbelievably grateful to all of you who send me emails saying you liked this or that thing I wrote about, and to those of you who comment on my posts and who support all of the women who appear here (via posts or links) with your words of encouragement. You keep me going through my good days and bad. I’m grateful to all the volunteers, like those at PSI, and the bloggers who keep working to help people and bring awareness to postpartum depression while getting paid nothing and receiving little to no acknowledgment.

We will never, ever give up on the millions of girls and women who will some day, without any doubt, develop a perinatal mood or anxiety disorder.

April 30, 2010 1:06 pm Filed Under: Celebrities With PPD, Postpartum Depression

Queen Victoria Suffered From Postpartum Depression

By Katherine Stone January 15, 2010

According to a story in Newsweek, even Queen Victoria had postpartum depression.

“For more than a decade she struggled with pain and postnatal depression, describing infants as ugly and froglike. She frequently told her husband he did not understand the sacrifice involved, and the exhaustion. ‘I own,’ she later wrote to her daughter, ‘it tried me sorely; one feels so pinned down—one’s wing’s clipped—only half oneself … I think our sex a most unenviable one.’”

January 15, 2010 9:43 am Filed Under: Celebrities With PPD, Postpartum Depression

Did Brooke Shields Have A Chemical Imbalance?

By Katherine Stone November 18, 2009

Brooke Shields recently received an advocacy award from the Hope for Depression Research Foundation in Manhattan. At the event, she spoke about her experience with postpartum depression and about the stigma of mental illness.

People magazine covered the event here. Of interest to me was this bit about her treatment for depression:

"Shields was prescribed medication, though she stopping taking it one point, thinking she didn't need them. 'That was the week I almost did not resist driving my car straight into a wall on the side of the freeway,' she told the crowd. 'My baby was in the back seat and that even pissed me off because I thought she's even ruining this for me. I just wanted to drive into the wall and my friend stayed on the phone with me and made me safely get home.'

She later called her doctor to ask for more help, and was eventually diagnosed with a chemical imbalance. 'I learned what was going on inside my body and what was going on inside my brain,' she said. 'I learned I wasn't doing anything wrong to feel that way. That it was actually out of my control.'

Two things.

One, I don't thinkPeople magazinegot it right when they wrote that Brooke Shields was diagnosed with a chemical imbalance. People don't get diagnosed with a chemical imbalance. It's not like there's a test given inyour physician's office, like swabbing your throat or having you pee on a stick or something, that tells you whether your neurotransmitters are messed up.

Shields would have beendiagnosed with postpartum depression, which has, as far as we know at this moment, several causes including one or more genetic, biological and environmental factors. As Dr. John Grohol at Psych Central has often stated:

"Sorry, mental disorders such as depression and bipolar disorder are not simply 'brain illnesses,' without any significant psychological or social components that must also be treated. They are complex disorders that involve genes, biology, personality, social development, environment, relationships, and a whole lot more in most people. Buying into the simplistic and discredited model of 'brain chemical imbalance' isn’t something that’s beneficial for research or public advocacy or policy."

Does this mean the serotinin or dopamine in your brain aren't involved somehow with your postpartum depression? No. Does this mean that there isn't some or even a major portion of the illness you're experiencing that is indeed out of your control? No. Does this mean it's your fault if your illness isn't biochemical? No. But it does mean it's way too simplistic to say you simply have a "chemical imbalance".

This Just In: I checked two MDs who are specialists in perinatal mood and anxiety disordersthis afternoon just to make sure I'm not makingthisup and theysaidwhat I've written iscorrect. There are no consistently identified biomarkers for depression.There is a test that can be done of cerebrospinal fluid apparently, but it is invasive and not necessarily diagnostic.

In fact, that kind of terminology sometimes frustrates mebecause in some way I feel itadds to the stigma of mental illness. Rather than as an evidence-based, medically acceptable diagnosis, I think the term "chemical imbalance" is often used by the media as a sugarcoated, societally acceptable way ofreferring todepression or postpartum depression. We can't just say we have a mental illness, because that's too hard to prove, supposedly? Can't be seen on an X-ray? Too hard for people to believe? But if we use the phrase "chemical imbalance" thenthat's acceptable? That makes it all okay? I don't know why we have to wordsmith the truth. I hope somedaythat stating you have a mental illness like postpartum depression won't require any sort of PR spin.

Now that I got that off my chest, the second thing I wanted to point out is this: I'm glad to see thatShields spoke so openly about something I hear about quite a lot from moms –this idea of deciding you should be your own doctor and quit your meds whenever you feel like you don't need them. Bad idea. You can see what can happen when you do that, as described by Brooke in the quote above. Whatever form of treatment you are undergoing, talk with yourhealthcare providerabout whether you should end it, and when and how you should go about doing that. It's for your own good.

November 18, 2009 12:48 pm Filed Under: Celebrities With PPD, Postpartum Depression

Actresses Angie Harmon & Gena Lee Nolin Open Up About Postpartum Depression

By Katherine Stone September 24, 2009

Two stories yesterday about celebrities who've experienced postpartum depression:

Angie Harmon

The first isfrom the website Lilsugar where actress Angie Harmon complains on video that no one told her about PPD until after she got it! Harmon had PPD after each of her three kids.

The second, from the magazine Life & Style, features Gena Lee Nolin, former Baywatch star, who experienced PPD(thanks to Celebrity BabyBlog for the story).She also had it with all three of her kids, and used both meds and counseling as part of her treatment. She plans to write a book about her experience.

Actresses and other celebrities are subject to the same illnesses the rest of us are, and are just as likely to go through the darkness of PPD. For news of other celebrity moms who've had postpartum depression, like Lisa Rinna, Gwyneth Paltrow and Amanda Peet, click here.

September 24, 2009 4:00 am Filed Under: Celebrities With PPD