The Nashville star portrays postpartum depression on the television show so convincingly. Critics praise her acting and almost all of them agree that her portrayal is one of genuine emotion. What people might not realize is that there is a reason she is able to play the part so convincingly. Hayden has finally spoken about her very personal struggle with postpartum depression. “I was always so terrified that people weren’t going to accept me… I finally just went, ‘I’m tired of living afraid. I’m tired of living in fear of what people are going to think, so, you know, I’m just going to put it all out there on the table and I’m not going to worry about the judgment.’ ”
When Hayden finally decided that she wouldn’t let fear stop her from getting the help she needed she was extremely surprised at the feedback. When she entered treatment and asked for her family’s privacy what she got instead was immense support. Fans, mothers, and people in general all flooded in with optimism and support. When she spoke to Yahoo! she said, “The more open I was, the more acceptance I got from people… I got so much support and so much love.”
She fully accepts that there is a negative stigma that sometimes comes hand in hand with revealing you have postpartum depression. For the people that believe that the problem lies with the mother or a mother’s instincts where PPD is concerned, Hayden has a special message for them. “It’s like you have no idea what you’re talking about. If you think for one second that a mother wants to feel that way toward her child, you’re outta your mind. It is one of the most debilitating, scary, guilty feelings that you can ever feel… That a mother would not be able to connect with their child, would not be able to get a grip, or would not know what’s going on, for anybody to say that it’s false or created by us, you must have your head examined.”
With the help she needed, she now feels much more comfortable with her emotions and is in fact loving motherhood. A great many women suffer from PPD and because of the negative stigma many of them believe that the fault lies with them. As a society we have fostered the mindset that all women have an innate motherly instinct and that if a woman is not a perfect and loving mother, they are less than the human they should be. Hayden is a strong advocate that all women need to understand that everyone has their own struggles. There is never a need to think that you are broken or less of a human for feeling the way you do. For anyone that is struggling with a similar issue, we encourage them to seek help and do not fear the social judgement that is often attached to PPD.
Latest Comments