Kylie Jenner And So Many Other Celebs Have Gotten Real About Their Struggle With Mental Health After Giving Birth

"I felt like a zombie. I couldn't access my heart. I couldn't access my emotions."

The moments after welcoming a baby are supposed to be filled with joy, celebration, and lots of newborn cuddles — but that's not the case for all mothers.

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Unfortunately, for many new moms, the changes they experience during the postpartum period takes a drastic toll on their mental health. In fact, one in seven women experience some form of postpartum depression.

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But through it all, one of the most important things for postpartum moms to know in their journey is that they're not alone and many celebrity moms are now speaking out to share that they've been through it...and it does get better.

Here's what these celebs had to say about their mental health after giving birth:

1. Kylie Jenner's postpartum journey was "not easy mentally, physically, spiritually."

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After welcoming her son Wolf, Kylie admitted that things had been "harder than with [her] daughter." In a candid video, Kylie explained that she didn't want to get back to her daily life without letting fans know she had been struggling with her mental health. 

"It's OK not to be OK. Once I realized that I was putting some pressure on myself... And I just keep reminding myself I made a whole human, a beautiful healthy boy. We have to stop putting pressure on ourselves to be 'back.' Not even physically, just mentally, after birth. So yeah, just sending some love. I love you guys!" Kylie said. 

2. Gwyneth Paltrow says she felt like a "zombie" after welcoming her son.

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When Gwyneth welcomed her son Moses, she found herself on an emotional journey she hadn't experienced with her daughter Apple. Her mental health took a dip and she says she felt like a "terrible mother." While she says she tried to push her feelings aside, her then-husband Chris Martin knew something was wrong and helped her acknowledge what was going on, 

"I felt like a zombie. I couldn't access my heart. I couldn't access my emotions. I couldn't connect. It was terrible. It was the exact opposite of what had happened when Apple was born. With her, I was on cloud nine. I couldn't believe it wasn't the same [after Moses was born]. I just thought it meant I was a terrible mother and a terrible person," Gwyneth told Good Housekeeping. 

She continued, "The hardest part for me was acknowledging the problem. I thought postpartum depression meant you were sobbing every single day and incapable of looking after a child. But there are different shades of it and depths of it, which is why I think it's so important for women to talk about. It was a trying time. I felt like a failure."

In order to take care of her mental health, Gwyneth turned to therapy as well as exercise, which she says was vital to help her recover. 

3. Chrissy Teigen was diagnosed with postpartum depression when her daughter was eight-months-old.

@chrissyteigen / Via instagram.com

After Chrissy gave birth to her daughter in 2016, she developed postpartum depression — but didn't know it for eight months. In an essay about her experience, Chrissy says she struggled with intense physical symptoms for months, not knowing what it was. She was left with body pain, nausea, loss of appetitive and a deep sadness that left her unable to leave the house and stumped many doctors. After wondering for months why she was so unhappy despite having "everything [she] needed to be happy," her GP finally diagnosed her with postpartum depression. 

"I looked at my doctor, and my eyes welled up because I was so tired of being in pain. Of sleeping on the couch. Of waking up throughout the night. Of throwing up. Of taking things out on the wrong people. Of not enjoying life. Of not seeing my friends. Of not having the energy to take my baby for a stroll. My doctor pulled out a book and started listing symptoms. And I was like, 'Yep, yep, yep.' I got my diagnosis: postpartum depression and anxiety," Chrissy wrote. 

After getting on antidepressants and starting therapy, Chrissy began to feel better but still wanted to make sure other moms knew they weren't alone in their battle. 

She added, "I just didn’t think it could happen to me. I have a great life. I have all the help I could need...But postpartum does not discriminate...I’m speaking up now because I want people to know it can happen to anybody and I don’t want people who have it to feel embarrassed or to feel alone. I also don’t want to pretend like I know everything about postpartum depression, because it can be different for everybody. But one thing I do know is that—for me—just merely being open about it helps."

4. Reese Witherspoon had different postpartum experiences with all of her children.

@reesewitherspoon / Via instagram.com

Reese had made a point to note that not every postpartum experience will be the same. In fact, each of her postpartum journeys for her three children have been different — and at one point she took medication to help her deal with her mental health struggles. Reese explained that after her first pregnancy, she was "completely out of control" and there wasn't the same kind of understanding about postpartum two decades ago. 

"I've had three kids. After each child I had a different experience. One kid I had kind of mild postpartum, and one kid I had severe postpartum where I had to take pretty heavy medication because I just wasn't thinking straight at all. And then I had one kid where I had no postpartum at all," Reese explained on Jameela Jamil's I Weigh podcast.

She later added, "We don't understand the kind of hormonal roller coaster that you go on when you stop nursing. No one explained that to me. I was 23 years old when I had my first baby and nobody explained to me that when you wean a baby, your hormones go into the toilet. I felt more depressed than I'd ever felt in my whole life. It was scary. I didn't have the right kind of guidance or help, I just white-knuckled back...There wasn't the type of communication we have now."

5. Cardi B thought she would be able to avoid postpartum depression.

@iamcardib / Via instagram.com

Cardi B never expected the birth of her daughter to impact her mental health, but she admits that months after the little girl was born, she found herself in a haze of postpartum depression.

“I thought I was going to avoid it. When I gave birth, the doctor told me about postpartum, and I was like, ‘Well, I’m doing good right now, I don’t think that’s going to happen.’ But out of nowhere, the world was heavy on my shoulders," Cardi told Harper's Bazaar.

Cardi made the difficult decision to drop out of a tour in order to focus on her health and her daughter and after several months, she says she began to feel more like herself. 

6. Behati Prinsloo leaned on her husband while struggling with her mental health.

@Behatiprinsloo / Via instagram.com

Behati says she was lucky to have not hit too many bumps in the road when it came to her postpartum mental health but when she was feeling the baby blues, she found herself leaning on her husband Adam Levine. 

"I had moments of postpartum after our first baby that I felt like it was coming through. But my husband was so incredibly supportive and always got me out of it. I think it's very normal, though, as a young mom and a new mom to feel helpless and to feel overly emotional, you know. And I think I got lucky not to have it to an extreme case, but you can see yourself spiraling. And I think that the message is just that it's never too little to ask for help," she share with Today. 

7. Hayden Panettiere ended up seeking treatment for postpartum depression.

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Hayden welcomed her daughter Kaya in 2014 and experienced a series of emotional lows while the little girl was still an infant. The actress explained that she hadn't known that postpartum depression could be a "broad spectrum" of emotions until Kaya was born. She says her experience was "painful and it’s really scary" until she finally found professional help at a treatment center. 

"It’s something a lot of women experience. When [you’re told] about postpartum depression you think it’s ‘I feel negative feelings towards my child, I want to injure or hurt my child’ — I’ve never, ever had those feelings. Some women do. But you don’t realize how broad of a spectrum you can really experience that on. It’s something that needs to be talked about. Women need to know that they’re not alone, and that it does heal," Hayden said on Live With Kelly and Ryan. 

8. Bryce Dallas Howard felt like she was experiencing "emotional amnesia" after giving birth.

@brycedhoward / Via instagram.com

Bryce found herself on an intense emotional journey after the birth of her first son. She says things began immediately after her son was born, when she "felt nothing" for the infant despite being surrounded by joy. She also had a difficult postpartum recovery period, where she refused to take pain killers and admits she didn't give her body a chance to heal. And when her midwife tried to check up on her mental health, Bryce couldn't bring herself to reveal what she was going through. 

"It is strange for me to recall what I was like at that time. I seemed to be suffering emotional amnesia. I couldn’t genuinely cry, or laugh, or be moved by anything. For the sake of those around me, including my son, I pretended, but when I began showering again in the second week, I let loose in the privacy of the bathroom, water flowing over me as I heaved uncontrollable sobs," Bryce wrote in an essay for Goop. 

Bryce says her mental health continued to worsen, with continued breakdowns and emotional outbursts towards her husband – something she had never done before. At that point, her husband helped take control of the situation, creating a plan for Bryce to get the help she needed. 

Bryce continued, "He created a plan, and with the support of my husband, my friends and my family, I returned to my midwife. I finally understood I needed to answer her questions honestly, and when I did, she suggested a homeopathic treatment plan, reconnected me with my doctor who oversaw my care, and sent me to a therapist who diagnosed me with severe postpartum depression. Although challenges lay ahead, little by little I got better."

9. Adele surrounded herself with other mothers when she was struggling after giving birth.

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Adele admits she had "really bad postpartum depression" after giving birth to her son but instead of turning to medication, she opted to talk to other mothers and practice self care. While she was initially "very reluctant" to talk to other women, she says it's what made the biggest difference and helped her realize postpartum comes in many different forms. 

"One day I said to a friend, ‘I fuckin’ hate this,’ and she just burst into tears and said, ‘I fuckin’ hate this, too.’ And it was done. It lifted. My knowledge of postpartum—or post-natal, as we call it in England—is that you don’t want to be with your child; you’re worried you might hurt your child; you’re worried you weren’t doing a good job. But I was obsessed with my child. I felt very inadequate; I felt like I’d made the worst decision of my life...It can come in many different forms," Adele told Vanity Fair.

She added, "Eventually I just said, I’m going to give myself an afternoon a week, just to do whatever the fuck I want without my baby. A friend of mine said, ‘Really? Don’t you feel bad?’ I said, I do, but not as bad as I’d feel if I didn’t do it. Four of my friends felt the same way I did, and everyone was too embarrassed to talk about it; they thought everyone would think they were a bad mom, and it’s not the case. It makes you a better mom if you give yourself a better time."

10. Drew Barrymore was "under the cloud" after the birth of her second child.

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Drew says she didn't experience postpartum mental health struggles until after the birth of her second child. Although it was "short-lived, probably six months," she explained the time period as feeling "under the cloud."

“I didn’t have postpartum the first time so I didn’t understand it because I was like, ‘I feel great!’ The second time, I was like, ‘Oh, whoa, I see what people talk about now. I understand.’ It’s a different type of overwhelming with the second. I really got under the cloud," she told People.

Drew even found a bright side to her struggle, explaining that it has helped her learn to stay present in the moment.

11. Rachel Platten experienced an "incredibly painful battle" with her mental health after giving birth.

@rachelplatten / Via instagram.com

Rachel found herself on an extremely difficult mental health journey following the birth of her daughter. She says for months after welcoming the little girl, she was unable to stop crying during the day and at night, she was unable to sleep. After trying "every tool possible," she finally found something that worked for her and by the time her daughter was six-months-old, she was finally feeling "consistent joy, ease, power and real hope again."

"I promise, It’s possible for you to feel joy again. I’m here as an example that you can do this. You can be your own hero and you can learn to love all of you and I believe in you. My aunt told me on one of the darkest days I had in this postpartum period, 'Rachel, no one is going to come save you. Be your own hero. Do one brave thing today. Do one more tomorrow. Win the day. You can do this.' She had just lost her husband of 50 years (my incredible uncle), and she was teaching me how to climb out of hell. So I’m passing it on, you can do this. Win the day. I love you all," Rachel wrote on Instagram. 

12. Lisa Rinna kept her postpartum depression a secret — and doesn't want anyone to do the same.

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After having her first daughter, Lisa Rinna says she suffered from "severe" postpartum depression but didn't tell anyone what she was going through. 

"I kept it a secret. I didn't say a word to anybody in the world. [My husband] thought I was just nuts. He had no idea what was going on and I was so hopeless and felt so lost," Lisa said on HLN. 

After 10 months of struggling with her mental health, she finally opened up to her husband, telling him how "worthless, lost and hopeless" she felt and that her "self esteem was gone." Although says she felt shame admitting those things, opening up about it was the "most valuable" thing she could have done. 

"I suffered silently and I don't want any woman to ever have to do that again. You have to talk about out and you have to call your doctor," Lisa said. 

You can read more about how pregnancy and birth impacts the brain here, and postpartum depression here. If you need additional support, call the Office on Women's Health hotline at 1-800-994-9662. The National Alliance on Mental Illness helpline is 1-888-950-6264 (NAMI) and provides information and referral services; GoodTherapy.org is an association of mental health professionals from more than 25 countries who support efforts to reduce harm in therapy.