Gwyneth Paltrow is a rich and influential woman apart from being a famous actress and MCU star. She has starred in billion-dollar-grossing films and is an Oscar winner as well. As such, from the outside, her life looks picture-perfect. But all that glitters is not gold and Paltrow’s life isn’t as happy as it’s presented.
The actress once opened up about not feeling like a superhero every day. Specifically, the Iron Man star revealed that she went into depression post the birth of her second child, Moses, in 2006. She didn’t think that it could happen to her and that took her by surprise.
Gwyneth Paltrow Talks About Postnatal Depression
In 2011, during an interview with Good Housekeeping, Gwyneth Paltrow talked about how she felt after the birth of her son. The actress shares her son, Moses (16), and daughter, Apple (18), with ex-husband Chris Martin. Paltrow explained that she was emotionless and couldn’t feel anything after his birth, whereas the opposite happened after the birth of her daughter in 2004. She said:
“I felt like a zombie. I couldn’t access my heart. I couldn’t access my emotions. I couldn’t connect … With (Apple), I was on cloud nine. I couldn’t believe it wasn’t the same. I just thought it meant I was a terrible mother and a terrible person.”
This isn’t the only time the Marvel star has explained what was happening to her. On the Goop podcast in 2018, Paltrow talked about being depressed to her mother and actress Blythe Danner. In the episode titled Gwyneth x Blythe: On Mothers and Daughters, she said:
“I think (it) was really shocking to me because I never thought that I would be a person who got postnatal depression. I was so euphoric when Apple was born, and I assumed it would happen with Mosey and it just … it took a while. I really went into a dark place.”
Paltrow has been outspoken about postnatal depression, but she has said that instead of normal medication, it was alternative therapies that helped her. Her company, Goop, is also engaged in selling wellness products like superpowered supplements, essential oils, and more.
How Did Gwyneth Paltrow Overcome Postnatal Depression?
On the 10th anniversary of starting her company Goop, Gwyneth Paltrow addressed her postnatal depression on the company’s podcast. She explained that she didn’t take antidepressants and instead sought alternative therapies. As per the actress:
“I had postnatal depression, as you know, after my son. A doctor tried to put me on antidepressants and I thought, if I need them, then yes, I’ll come back to it. They are lifesavers for certain people for sure. I thought, well, what if I went to therapy and I started exercising again, and I stopped drinking alcohol and I just gave myself a period of regeneration and I slept more? I really broke out of it.”
In a 2015 Entertainment Tonight interview, the actress expressed that there shouldn’t be shame around the topic of postnatal depression. She said, “(My case) was low-grade enough that I didn’t have to be hospitalized, but it’s a very debilitating thing, and I think there’s so much shame around it and there shouldn’t be.”
Apart from Paltrow, actresses like Sarah Michelle Gellar and Reese Witherspoon have also talked about experiencing postnatal depression, and have advocated for widespread knowledge about the issue.
Source: The Goop Podcast and Good Housekeeping
