Chrissy Teigen's Struggle With Postpartum Depression
- Chrissy Teigen, who previously struggled with postpartum depression, recently celebrated her husband John Legend’s 46th birthday in London, where they spent Christmas together, with their four precious children.
- Teigen previously suffered postpartum depression after having her first child. Postpartum depression, according to the U.S. Dept. of Health & Human Services’ Office On Women’s Health, is “a serious mental health condition that involves the brain and affects your behavior and physical health.”
- One of the main steps in one’s health journey, whether it be cancer, loss, or a struggle with mental health, is learning how to cope with overwhelming emotions and to find a solid support system to lean on.
- Experts have told SurvivorNet that going through hardship, like cancer, while feeling supported can actually make people feel even more grateful for things they may have taken advantage of in the past.
The 39-year-old, who rose to fame amid her debut as a Sports Illustrated swimsuit model in 2010, took to Instagram to share a photo she took of Legend having some fun at the Bubble Planet Experience, a themed exhibited fun for children and adults, to commemorate him turning another year older.
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She concluded, “I love you so much, we love you so much. Happy birthday.”
Teigen and Legend share four kids together, their eight-year-old daughter Luna, six-year-old son Miles, 23-month-old daughter Esti, and 18-month-old son Wren.
Just days before Legend’s birthday, Teigen shared a touching family photo of them and their kids sitting by their Christmas tree, revealing they also spent they holiday in London.
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“Christmas morning in London! Merry Christmas, guys. We love you so much,” Teigen wrote. She also shared a photos of their stockings hanging on a the fireplace and her children opening up gifts by the tree.
In another post, Teigen shared more photos of her children and some of the activities they took part in over the past week, writing alongside post, and seemingly joking, “winter break for WHO.”
She followed up with another post of her and Legend dressed up at an event, captioning it, “Bye bye London and thank you @nikki_makeup and @domseeley!!! you angels!.”
We’re delighted to see Teigen spending lots of time with her loved ones during the holidays. She even celebrated her own birthday one month ago.
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Teigen who turned 39 on Nov. 30 admitted she had “the coziest birthday I could ever dream of,” in another photo-filled social media post.
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She wrote, “A week full of babies and big kids and family and friends and @yangbanla made us my dream birthday feast! plus got to take some family pics with my dear @yutsai88. Couldn’t have asked for a better week. Or a better life, really.
“Thank you to every family member and friend who made it out, every nanny that let me sleep, and Ohio State for keeping everyone entertained (and umm mad).”
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Chrissy Teigen’s Loss & Struggle With Postpartum Depression
It’s wonderful to see Teigen enjoying special moments with her family and feeling grateful for loved ones, especially after she and her husband suffered a pregnancy loss in 2020. She also dealt with postpartum depression years prior.
On Sept. 30, 2020, Teigen shared a tribute post to her late son, writing, “We are shocked and in the kind of deep pain you only hear about, the kind of pain we’ve never felt before. We were never able to stop the bleeding and give our baby the fluids he needed, despite bags and bags of blood transfusions. It just wasn’t enough.
“We never decide on our babies’ names until the last possible moment after they’re born, just before we leave the hospital. But we, for some reason, had started to call this little guy in my belly Jack. So he will always be Jack to us. Jack worked so hard to be a part of our little family, and he will be, forever.”
She continued, “To our Jack – I’m so sorry that the first few moments of your life were met with so many complications, that we couldn’t give you the home you needed to survive. We will always love you. Thank you to everyone who has been sending us positive energy, thoughts and prayers. We feel all of your love and truly appreciate you.
“We are so grateful for the life we have, for our wonderful babies Luna and Miles, for all the amazing things we’ve been able to experience. But everyday can’t be full of sunshine. On this darkest of days, we will grieve, we will cry our eyes out. But we will hug and love each other harder and get through it.”
Expert Resources On Support & Coping With Emotions
- ‘Strong in Cancer’: Navigating New Relationships and Motherhood While Fighting Cancer Is Challenging. We Offer Solutions.
- 27 Thoughtful Gift Ideas to Support Loved Ones Through a Cancer Journey
- I Wanted to Be Me Again, But I Also Needed Their Help — Finding That Support System
- The ‘Ultimate’ Gift — Former Soap Star Cameron Mathison on Family, and the Importance of Support Systems
- Mental Health: Understanding the Three Wellsprings of Vitality
- Fear, Anger, Anxiety: You’re Entitled To Your Emotions
Back in 2017, Teigen opened up about how she also battled postpartum depression, which according to the U.S. Dept. of Health & Human Services’ Office On Women’s Health, is “a serious mental health condition that involves the brain and affects your behavior and physical health.”
“‘Postpartum’ means the time after having a baby. Some women get the ‘baby blues,’ or feel sad, worried, or tired within a few days of giving birth. For many women, the baby blues go away in a few days. If these feelings don’t go away or you feel sad, hopeless, or anxious for longer than two weeks, you may have postpartum depression. Feeling hopeless after childbirth is not a regular or expected part of being a mother,” the office explains.
“If you have depression, then sad and hopeless feelings don’t go away and can interfere with your day-to-day life. You might not feel connected to your baby, as if you are not the baby’s mother, or you might not love or care for the baby. These feelings can be mild to severe.”
Teigen suffered postpartum depression after giving birth to her eldest daughter Luna, she previously explained in an essay she wrote for Glamour.
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She wrote, “Let me start here: To a lot of you, I think, I seem like the happiest person on the planet. I have an incredible husband—John and I have been together for over 10 years. He has seen my successes and failures; I’ve seen his. He has seen me at my worst, but I will say I don’t think I have ever seen him at his.
“He’s exactly as compassionate, patient, loving, and understanding as he seems. And I hate it. OK, I don’t hate it. But it can certainly drive you nuts sometimes when you’re as cynical as I am. If I weren’t me, I would politely excuse myself to make the most epic eye roll of all time if a woman talked to me about her significant other the way I just did to you.”
Teigen then explained her struggle with postpartum depression, “I had everything I needed to be happy. And yet, for much of the last year, I felt unhappy. What basically everyone around me, but me, knew up until December was this: I have postpartum depression. How can I feel this way when everything is so great?
“I’ve had a hard time coming to terms with that, and I hesitated to even talk about this, as everything becomes such a “thing.” During pregnancy, what I thought were casual comments about IVF turned into headlines about me choosing the sex of my daughter. And I can already envision what will be said about me after this admission. But it’s such a major part of my life and so, so many other women’s lives. It would feel wrong to write anything else. So here goes.”
Understanding Postpartum Depression
Postpartum depression occurs in about one in eight new mothers in the year after childbirth, the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services Office on Women’s Health explains.
The office notes that normal changes that occur after giving birth can result in symptoms similar to those of depression.
If a new mom is experiencing symptoms of depression for more than two weeks, it’s important to contact your doctor.
Symptoms could range from feeling angry, sad, moody, hopeless, guilty, shameful, or eating less or more than normal. Other symptoms could be abnormal crying or sadness, loss of interest in things one used to like doing, thoughts of harming yourself or your baby, and withdrawing from family or friends.
“Some women don’t tell anyone about their symptoms. New mothers may feel embarrassed, ashamed, or guilty about feeling depressed when they are supposed to be happy. They may also worry they will be seen as bad mothers. Any woman can become depressed during pregnancy or after having a baby,” the Office on Women’s Health adds.
“It doesn’t mean you are a bad mom. You don’t have to suffer. There is help. Your doctor can help you figure out whether your symptoms are caused by depression or something else.”
Thriving Through and After Hardship
Studies prove that patients who are able to stay upbeat and positive often have better treatment outcomes. It doesn’t really matter what you do, but experts such as Dr. Dana Chase, a gynecologic oncologist at Arizona Oncology, recommend doing whatever makes you happy.
“We know from good studies that emotional health is associated with survival, meaning better quality of life is associated with better outcomes,” Chase told SurvivorNet in a previous interview.
“So working on your emotional health, your physical well-being, your social environment [and] your emotional well-being are important and can impact your survival. If that’s related to what activities you do that bring you joy, then you should try to do more of those activities.”
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“A positive attitude is really important,” Dr. Zuri Murrell, a colorectal surgeon at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles tells SurvivorNet.
If you have just been diagnosed with cancer, negative feelings are normal. Totally normal. Men and women react differently. Anger, shame, fear, anxiety. It’s to be expected. Experienced doctors will tell you that people who find a way to work through the emotions and stay positive do end up doing better.
“My patients who thrive, even with stage 4 cancer, from the time that they, about a month after they’re diagnosed, I kind of am pretty good at seeing who is going to be OK,” Dr. Murrell says.
“Now doesn’t that mean I’m good at saying that the cancer won’t grow. But I’m pretty good at telling what kind of patient are going to still have this attitude and probably going to live the longest, even with bad, bad disease. And those are patients who, they have gratitude in life.”
The Importance of Milestones
Reaching milestones during or after a health battle, even many years later, is huge and just hits different for many survivors.
Special moments such as getting engaged, reaching another birthday, a high school reunion, “cancerversary” may mean even more to you than those events did previously, so it’s important to take them all in and celebrate all that you’ve overcome.
Chrissy Degennaro is also a cancer warrior determined to keep enjoying these precious milestones. She has been battling a rare blood cancer called multiple myeloma for 14 years, and was first diagnosed when she was just 36 years old with a 2-year-old son.
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When she was given her diagnosis, she almost expected to not be able to see him enter kindergarten. But thanks to 27 rounds of chemotherapy, two stem cell transplants, a CAR-T cell trial and two CAR-T cell transplants over following 14 years, she’s able to keep making memories with her family.
“You know, I do live one day at a time,” Chrissy previously told SurvivorNet. “Now, maybe I can go a week, a month, but things are looking pretty good. I’m able to be here for more milestones for my son, for more holidays, more birthdays. I do feel like I have had another chance at life.”
Contributing: SurvivorNet Staff
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