Alyssa Milano opens up about postpartum anxiety

In Canada roughly seven per cent of women report postpartum anxiety, but it’s believed that number is actually much higher due to unreported cases. Now, actress Alyssa Milano is sharing her own story about her postpartum struggle.

In a piece for Time magazine, the 45-year-old mom opened up about her experience with postpartum depression, saying she even asked to be admitted to the psych ward.

“My Generalized Anxiety Disorder was most likely triggered by my postpartum depression, and my journey with mental illnesses began with my journey into motherhood. In 2011, two years after suffering a miscarriage, I learned that I was pregnant with my first son, Milo — and it was a dream. My miscarriage was heartbreaking, but this pregnancy was beautiful… Following this idyllic image of motherhood, I wrote a strict birth plan: no induction of labor, no pain medication and no c-sections. I equated a natural birth to my value as a woman and as a mother — and I was determined not to stray from that course. But life does not always go according to plan,” she wrote. “That first night, after we returned from the hospital, I suffered my first anxiety attack. I felt like I had already disappointed my child. I felt like I failed as a mother, since I was not able to give birth vaginally or nourish him with the breast milk that had not come in yet. My heart raced. My stomach seized up. I felt like I was dying.”

As the anxiety attacks grew more common, Milano said going to work every day began to feel daunting — with the added guilt of leaving her son at home with caretakers. When she sought help, she wasn’t taken seriously — which is common among postpartum anxiety sufferers.

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“Finally, I hit a wall. One early morning, I went to the emergency room at 2:00 AM, asked for a psychiatrist and got help. I felt as though I had no choice: I asked to be committed; I stayed in a public psychiatric ward for three days,” wrote Milano. “At last, I began to feel as if my pain was recognized, but it wasn’t easy. One of my doctors dismissed my symptoms, and many of my colleagues, even female colleagues, still had trouble understanding that I was hurting at all… Here’s the thing about mental illnesses: you don’t always look sick, and the answers are not always clear or black-and-white. But we should not confront these challenges by placing more hurdles in front of Americans who desperately need the care. I was lucky enough to have the means and the insurance to get the help and support I needed. What happens to those mothers who don’t have the kind of support I received?”

After sharing her story on Twitter, Milano received thousands of comments from other moms sharing their own stories and thanking the star for her transparency on a topic that carries such stigma.

ALSO SEE: How model Tess Holliday has postpartum depression despite her ‘baby’ being a toddler

“Let’s remind each other that no one should have to face these challenges by themselves,
she wrote to end the piece. “And if you see me on the street, please come tell me that I am not alone.”

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