8 Celebrities Who Battled Postpartum Depression l Coping with Depression l Moms Dealing with the Baby Blues

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Having a baby is an exciting time for many women and it is supposed to be a happy event as depicted by the media. Yet, this is not always the case. The event can trigger many emotions and also depression in many. New moms encounter having the baby blues, which is mild depression for a few weeks after birth. This may include insomnia, anxiety, mood swings and crying spells. But for other women, they may experience severe depression. "Up to 1 in 7, experience a much more serious mood disorder — postpartum depression. Postpartum psychosis, a condition that may involve psychotic symptoms like delusions or hallucinations, is a different disorder and is very rare," the American Psychological Association reported. Postpartum depression may last months after the baby is born and it can show up months after delivery. Postpartum depression isn't a character flaw and no one is exempt from being a victim. It doesn't discriminate by age, income, race, ethnicity, culture or education. There are stars who have everything at their disposal who battled postpartum depression and struggled to conquer the condition. You are not alone, here are 8 celebrities who faced postpartum depression.

Brook Shields

Actress Brooke Shields suffered tremendously after her son Rowan Francis was born. She recalled starring out a window wanting to end her life. The feeling of shame, sadness and helplessness is something many women face since they feel that they should be elated after their pregnancy. "I really didn't want to live anymore," she told WebMD. Being in the public eye doesn't help. Actor Tom Cruise called her out for taking anti-depressants and this made her situation even worse. "If I had been diagnosed with any other disease, I would have run to get help. I would have worn it like a badge," Shields told People magazine. "I didn't at first—but finally I did fight. I survived." The actress opened up about her struggle in the book Down Came the Rain: My Journey Through Postpartum Depression.

Hayden Panettiere

Actress Hayden Panettiere's depression became so severe that she entered a treatment center to find help. She was reluctant to share her experience as many people think that postpartum involves having morose thoughts about hurting your child. This was not true, but the fear of what people thought, kept her mute. "I’ve never, ever had those feelings. Some women do. But you don’t realize how broad of a spectrum you can really experience that on. It’s something that needs to be talked about. Women need to know that they’re not alone and that it does heal." She said it took a long time to feel like herself and like others, she needed to become resilient. "I think I'm all the stronger for it. I think I'm a better mom for it because you never take that connection for granted.”

Celine Dion

Singer Celine Dion noticed that she would experience waves of happiness and then sadness after the birth of her twins' birth. The symptoms subsided and then would re-emerge unexpectedly. She brushed it off as she was fine after she had her first child, so depression could not be a factor. But then fatigue and a loss of an appetite settled in. "Some of the first days after I came home, I was a little outside myself. My mother remarked that she noticed I had moments of lifelessness, but reassured me that this was entirely normal. It's for things like that after having a baby that mothers really need emotional support." Dion started to take everything in stride and she was able to find the strength to seek guidance.

Chrissy Teigen

Model Chrissy Teigen locked herself in the house for days if she didn't have to work. There were other days that she couldn't get out of bed and would not eat and she admitted that she loves food. In an essay for Glamour magazine, she shared she was surprisingly short with people. “I would be in my dressing room, sitting in a robe, getting hair and makeup done, and a crew member would knock on the door and ask: ‘Chrissy, do you know the lyrics to this song?’ I would lose it. Or ‘Chrissy, do you like these cat ears, or these panda hands?’ And I’d be like: ‘Whatever you want. I don’t care.’" The mother came to the point where she couldn't understand why she was so unhappy. First, she blamed it on being tired. But when she saw her doctor, she had clear signs of postpartum depression. “I’m speaking up now because I want people to know it can happen to anybody, and I don’t want people who have it to feel embarrassed or to feel alone,” she said.

Drew Barrymore

Like others, actress Drew Barrymore didn't experience postpartum depression after her first child. But after her second baby, she started feeling somewhat off and just dismissed the symptoms. The illness is not a one-size-fits-all because every person is different and so is their biological makeup. Postpartum depression can occur anytime in the first 12 months after birth and it can happen after having any child. "I didn't have postpartum the first time so I didn't understand it because I was like, 'I feel great!' The second time, I was like, 'Oh, whoa, I see what people talk about now. I understand,'" said Barrymore. "It's a different type of overwhelming with the second. I really got under the cloud."

Gweneth Paltrow

Gwyneth Paltrow started to struggle when her second child was born in 2006. She was also taken back by the severe bouts of sadness and despair. The Oscar winner admitted that she didn't connect with her second child the way she did with her first. There was a feeling of detachment and she felt like a zombie. Her then-husband Chris Martin suggested that something was wrong and it could be postpartum depression. Initially, she resisted but found out that she did. "So I try to wrap [my head around] the whole thing, and even at the time, it was very difficult to go through, that it was happening," she continued. "It was in my life for a reason and I tried to use that opportunity to try to really get in there and heal some stuff," she said in an interview with etonline.com.

Lisa Rinna

Television host and actress Lisa Rinna admitted that she also dealt with postpartum depression. She made her husband Harry Hamlin hide all the sharp knives and take the gun out of the house because she had visions of killing everybody. "Now, how horrific is that? I must admit that I am surprised that she would reveal as much as she did about this personal struggle. To admit to postpartum depression is one thing, to say that you thought about killing your husband and children is another matter entirely." Rinna decided to take action to deal with the rash thoughts. For her, writing her views and emotions down helped. But more needs to be done if you are struggling with a torrid of harmful ideas. She encourages other women to seek help and to not be ashamed as they don't have control of the illness.

Courteney Cox

We understand that the hormonal changes in a woman's body may trigger symptoms of depression. But what is really going on? "The reproductive hormone levels in a woman's body are 20-30 times greater than normal," psychotherapy.com reported. This drop in estrogen, progesterone, endorphins and other hormones create the perfect storm for depression. Actress Courteney Cox experienced this when her daughter was born. "I went through a really hard time — not right after the baby, but when [Coco] turned 6 months. I couldn't sleep. My heart was racing and I got really depressed. I went to the doctor and found out my hormones had been pummeled." Cox is another example of suffering in silence, but she decided that something was amiss and she responded accordingly.