Hayden Panettiere Is Breaking This Misconception About Postpartum Depression & People Should Be Taking Notes

Hayden Panettiere is in a new era, one where she’s vulnerable and open about her struggles as both a survivor and a mama. In 2023, she’s not only opened up about her past addiction struggles, but she’s also talking about postpartum depression — and what she wishes people would’ve said to her when going through the worst of it.

Recently, on E! News’ The Rundown, the Scream 6 star said she wished “somebody told me” about postpartum depression before and “told me it’s okay.” Panettiere added, “I wish I knew to look out for it. But I never heard any stories about it at all. I just thought there was something seriously wrong with me, so I thought, ‘[Alcohol] will fix this. Duh!’ And it didn’t. It does for a moment, but then it made everything worse.”

The Nashville alum added that there’s so much damage when people downplay it as well, saying, “And then it hurts for you. Because you’re like, ‘They’re saying I should be able to get over this all by myself.’”

Panetierre shares one daughter with her ex Wladimir Klitschko named Kaya, 8.

This isn’t the first time Panetierre has mentioned her struggle with postpartum depression. Back in 2015, soon after she welcomed her daughter, she said on Live with Kelly and Michael that postpartum depression is “scary and needs to be talked about.” Later that year, she voluntarily checked into a facility for treatment and then again in May 2016, per Us Weekly.

These celebrity moms got real about battling postpartum depression.

Related story

Hayden Panettiere Speaks Out About Battling Substance Abuse, Postpartum Depression: 'I Was Drowning'