Bryce Dallas Howard on Struggling With Postpartum Depression: 'You Need a Community'
Bryce Dallas Howard has returned to the red carpet and spoke about her experience with postpartum Depression after the birth of her son, Theo. Howard plays a woman who deals with mental illness in an upcoming short film series, "Call Me Crazy: A Five Film," produced by Jennifer Aniston.
After the birth of Theo in 2006, Howard struggled to breastfeed, which only added to her feelings of stress and unpreparedness. Even though she was unaware of it at the time, she was suffering from postpartum depression. Friends and family helped her get the help she needed, but for the time period before therapy, Howard truly suffered.
"My husband began shooting a television series, and late evenings when he returned home, I would meet him at the door, shaking with fury. 'I've hit the wall and gone through it, and I feel I am expected to go further.' He would ask what he could do to help, but knowing there was nothing he could do, I screamed expletives at him, behavior he had never experienced in the seven years we had been together," Howard wrote for Gwyneth Paltrow's website GOOP.
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"It went untreated for 18 months because I was just so ashamed and frightened," Howard told Us Weekly while walking the red carpet. "I didn't know what it meant and didn't know what happened to me. Getting to have an opportunity to tell a story that is about mental illness and how it affects one's self and one's community was really something that really meant a lot to me."
After the birth of her second child, Beatrice, Howard had it a bit easier. She was able to use her initial experience to be aware of the possibility of postpartum depression after this birth.
"I had, especially after the birth of my daughter, because of the experience I had with my son, I had family around me constantly, I had friends around me constantly, professionals supporting me through that, and I fell really grateful. I couldn't have done it otherwise. You can't raise kids alone, you can't heal alone … you really need a community," Howard explained.
"Call Me Crazy" premieres Sunday, April 20, at 8:00 p.m. ET on Lifetime.
