Chrissy Teigen is a model, best-selling cookbook author, TV host and the wife of musician John Legend. She admits she’s an “open book,” but there is one thing she didn’t share publicly until recently – that after giving birth to her daughter, she developed postpartum depression.
According to the Centers for Disease and Prevention, about one in nine women are affected by postpartum depression, which can include symptoms like feelings of anger, sadness and disconnection after giving birth.
In her essay, Chrissy asks the question, “How can I feel this way when everything is so great?” describing the difficulty she had with coming to terms with her postpartum depression.
“I had everything I needed to be happy. And yet, for much of the last year, I felt unhappy.”
She shares how small tasks, such as getting out of bed to go to work, became incredibly painful. Her visit to her general practitioner was the first time she discovered that she was experiencing postpartum depression and anxiety.
“Before this, I had never, ever—in my whole entire life—had one person say to me: ‘I have postpartum depression.’”
After her diagnosis, she was able to get the help she needed to feel better. By sharing her experience, she wants to show women that they are not alone in the way they may feel after giving birth – postpartum depression can happen to anyone, but women should not feel embarrassed or alone during their struggle.
Read more about Chrissy Teigen’s experience with postpartum depression from her essay in Glamour.
