Issue Date: September 18, 2005
Brooke Shields: The truth about new moms and depression
Up to 15% of new mothers suffer from what is -- despite Tom Cruise's recent diatribe -- a real illness.
By Jennifer Mendelsohn
LOOKS DECEIVE: Shields was being treated for depression when she posed -- with 3-month-old Rowan -- for a photo shoot that produced "People's" cover image.
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In September 2003, actress Brooke Shields appeared on the cover of "People" magazine with her 3-month-old daughter, Rowan. She opened up about her struggle with infertility and waxed poetic about the joys of motherhood.
But in reality, she was being treated for a crippling bout of postpartum depression (PPD). "I was in complete denial," says Shields, now 40 and starring in Broadway's "Chicago." "I could still fool myself into thinking that I was, in fact, fine -- it's just that I had 'struggled.' There's such a psychological stigma attached to it."
A disease of shame
Although 10% to 15% of all women who give birth suffer from PPD, it's shrouded in shame and misconception -- and is often overlooked.
"This is a horrendous illness," says George Washington University psychiatrist Ralph Wittenberg, founder and president of the Family Mental Health Foundation. "But it gets such lukewarm attention. People don't take it seriously."
PPD is characterized by profound and persistent feelings of sadness, irritability and anxiety. Patients show unexplained abnormalities in brain chemistry. Known risk factors include personal or family history of depression and lack of a good support system. The hormone plunge that occurs after giving birth -- a change that "rivals death," says psychiatrist Zachary Stowe, director of the Emory Women's Mental Health Program and a leading PPD expert -- may contribute.
PPD is readily treated with therapy and, often, medication. Better diet, exercise and getting more rest also can help a woman feel better. Yet a study showed less than 10% of pregnant or postpartum women diagnosed with depression ever got treatment.
Why? Many women feel too ashamed or guilty to admit that they feel unwell at what is supposed to be the happiest time of their lives. Shields had expected that motherhood would "complete" her -- "everything that was fuzzy would come into focus," she says.
Her story of despair
Instead of wanting to gaze adoringly at her newborn, Shields felt nothing but a terrifying apathy. "It was as if she did not exist," she says. "I couldn't even find her offensive. That would have been almost better because it would have been something."
And instead of a maternal glow, Shields fell into a deep despair that she likens to a "black cloud following me around like Pigpen from 'Peanuts.'" She cried incessantly, felt "weighted down" by a crushing heaviness she thought she could never cast off and had intrusive thoughts of terrible things happening to Rowan. Shields "wanted it all to stop. I wanted to go away permanently."
Eventually, with the support of friends, family and husband Chris Henchy, Shields sought the help of a therapist and began taking antidepressants.
After she recovered, a friend urged Shields to write about PPD to help erase the stigma. Her brutally honest memoir, "Down Came the Rain" (Hyperion, $23.95), was released this spring to much attention. "It's hard to feel humble," she says. "But I really do believe it's struck a chord."
The Tom Cruise clash
Unfortunately for Shields, the book also struck a chord with actor Tom Cruise, who criticized her antidepressant use during a TV interview, saying she should have taken vitamins instead. Shields suggested that 'War of the Worlds' star Cruise should "stick to saving the world from aliens and let women who are experiencing postpartum depression decide what treatment options are best for them." But Cruise went on the offensive again during a heated interview with Matt Lauer on the "Today" show, claiming that "there is no such thing as a chemical imbalance in a body" and that psychiatric drugs only "mask the problem."
Shields fought back in a "New York Times" op-ed. "I'm going to take a wild guess and say that Mr. Cruise has never suffered from postpartum depression," she wrote, calling Cruise's "ridiculous rant" a "disservice to mothers everywhere." Shoshana Bennett, president of Postpartum Support International, says that "even in his ridiculousness" Cruise has "given us a forum. I thank him duly."
Shields has no regrets about going public: "It's made me responsible to it. I might have wanted to sweep it under the rug and pretend it didn't happen."
Her only true regret is that she didn't appreciate the early months of motherhood, because "when you do feel the [maternal] love, it's so all-consuming and beautiful it's a shame not to feel it longer." She now hopes to have another child.
Is it PPD or normal new baby stress?
Trust yourself: If your baby is more than 2 weeks old and you repeatedly wonder if your emotions are abnormal, they are, says Zachary Stowe, of Emory University.
For more information, visit postpartum.net or ppdhope.com.
Brooke Shields photo by Davis Factor, Corbis Outline
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