Mildred Renteria
English 09
CRN 20240
May 2019
Postpartum Depression Strikes Celebrity: Adele Talks About Her Experience
After having her first child, Adele confirmed her experience with postpartum depression and claimed it was unbearable. Adele felt little connection with her baby and felt like a terrible mother, yet she is in love with her newborn baby. “My knowledge of postpartum is that you don’t want to be with our child; you’re worried you might hurt your child or worried on doing a terrible job,’’ Adele explained. “I was obsessed with my child, I felt very insufficient, I felt like I’d made the worst decision of my life,’’ (Susan, 2016, par.1)
Adele claimed that she didn’t want to be away from her baby as in she didn’t love him, but at the same time she also felt regret and guilt by having a child and wanting to be away from him to let her stress go. The constant pressure of acting as a perfect mother got to Adele and made her self-esteem go low. It became difficult for her to squeeze in time for herself and her new-born baby. Everything changes once a baby is in your life; All the time and attention now belong to the baby and maybe Adele wasn’t ready to let go of that privilege. Although Adele cured her depression, by opening up about her feelings with close friends who are also mothers, she is terrified of having another child since she claims that she easily slips into sad moods.
Getting informed with this information is crucial, it affects many women, yet it is not discussed as much. Identifying the symptoms on time can rescue both a new mom and her mindset. Adele has had a lot of controversies when it comes to dealing with anxiety, low self-esteem, and depression, however; the most interesting battle she had was postpartum depression or PPD. Postpartum is feeling depressed after birth. It may show up within weeks after giving birth and can last up to three years if it is left untreated. This depression is very common that even men can be diagnosed with this. Adele battled her way through postpartum depression
Famous singer and songwriter, also known for her depressing breakup and love songs, Adele, suffered from PPD after giving birth to her son, Angelo. Throughout her career, Adele has dealt with anxiety due to fans, paparazzi, and sharing most of her life publicly risking herself for more people to criticize every aspect of her. Adele has also dealt with low self-esteem issues because she is overweight and doesn’t ‘’fit’’ with society’s beauty standard. As a result, all these psychological emotions accumulate and can cause a person to lose control sooner or later. When she gave birth, she didn’t have a strong character which is fine, but she couldn’t handle it. Adele claimed that it’s not about feeling like you need to be away from your son. It’s actually being worried about hurting the child, or not doing a good job as a new mother. Adele refused to take antidepressants and decided to look for help by opening up to her close friends. She discovered her friends also went through this and felt relieved. In the article ‘’Adele Opens Up About Her PPD’’ by Susan Scutti, CNN, Adele said she needed time for herself and spent many afternoons relaxing and it seemed to her that that was her cure. No antidepressants, no shots, no psychologist, but talking with the people you are most comfortable with. Adele lives her life shared by the media and has been afraid to talk about this personal issue. Speaking up and getting help is never a wrong answer and it is important to know about this depression because millions of women neglect themselves and can eventually be harmful.
Becoming a new mother is indeed stressful and nerve-wracking. In the article “Adele’s Struggle With Postpartum Depression Is So Relatable” by Haley Goldberg, discussed that postpartum depression is in fact very common, however; the topic isn’t discussed much because patients are in denial of their symptoms.
Adele explained that she felt little to no connection with her baby at first, yet she was obsessed and happy to be a new mother. Adele cured her depression by opening up with other women who are mothers as well. She claimed that spending time alone is the best method she tried. Adele spent her afternoons alone, even though she felt guilty she knew it was best to rest than to push through time with your baby. A celebrity can go through many situations since their life is shared with thousands of people all over the world through social media, but being able to open up about a personal problem while taking risk of being criticized is strong-willed. This article also describes that women who are affected by PPD can never realize it until it is too late and the symptoms have gotten worse. The article also explained how it is normal to feel this way because it doesn’t make you a bad mom but rather make you a stronger person for going through it and snapping out of it. My mother has dealt with PPD after she had my little sister and described the same exact symptoms as
Adele did. My mother didn’t rely on antidepressants because she wouldn’t be able to breastfeed while taking medication, so she had to snap out with no medication, but I’m assuming she didn't rely on anything and since then she’s been doing great. “It makes you a better mom if you give yourself a better time.” (Alim, 2016, par.12) I agree with Adele because giving yourself time to rest means you are fueling your mind and body with more energy instead of doing errands exhausted which can cause even more anxiety and worsen the depression. A happy child means a happy mother.
The article “Adele Shares Story of Friend’s Postpartum Psychosis to Help New Mothers’’ by Alexandra Topping and explains the risks of PSI and how Adele helped her friend overcome it. In 2012, singer and songwriter, Adele had her baby and dealt with postpartum depression (PPD). She is now sharing her best friend’s experience with Postpartum Psychosis after being diagnosed in 2015, which is more severe than PPD. I believe what Adele did is amazing because she has a big platform that reaches many people all over the world who can be informed and helped her friends through therapists and documenting her experience through a journal. Adele has definitely come forward and more open about her personal experiences rather than she was in 2012. Adele shared an Instagram post talking about her best friend having her godson while dealing with PSI and the following symptoms from PSI: insomnia, paranoia, hallucinations, and suspiciousness.
From the perspective of a celebrity, I can say it must have been difficult for Adele to deal with this depression because most of her life is shared by the media, and that could have caused her more stress. Although it isn’t clear what causes PPD and PSI, it is more likely Adele’s friend had a traumatic birth experience or pregnancy and lead to this mental disorder. The author gave an example from a thirty-year-old woman named Charlotte Bevan killed herself and her baby after being released from the hospital in Bristol, Tennessee. That’s how dangerous and fast postpartum psychosis works if left untreated. I agree with Alexandra about how dangerous mental illnesses are and can affect anybody. An interesting fact I learned about this postpartum depression is that males can also be diagnosed with this! Now that I’m confident with my knowledge of postpartum, it is possible to help my family members and maybe use this information in the future. For instance, IF I ever get pregnant in the future, I can use this information to possibly prevent my emotions and thoughts to escalate to this depression. To conclude this paragraph, I will certainly use the strategies for my future writing assignments and perfect my skills in English classes. It is important to discuss and be more open to mental illnesses. Many people are affected every day and don’t know about it or don’t get help. If I were to acknowledge my depression when my parents divorced I would have prevented my self-harm. I felt embarrassed feeling that way and never got help, I just let time go by. Today, there are so many methods and with the power of technology, we can talk to people online about our problems with no cost and can actually save a life! It is never too late.
WORKS CITED
Goldberg, Haley. “Adele's Struggle With Postpartum Depression Will Resonate With So Many Moms.” SELF, SELF, 17 June 2017, www.self.com/story/adele-postpartum-depression.
Jimeson, Lauren. “Adele Opens Up About Her Struggles with Postpartum Depression: ‘It Can Come in Many Different Forms.’” Babble, Babble, 1 Nov. 2016, www.babble.com/entertainment/adele-opens-up-about-parenting-and-postpartum-depression/.
Scutti, Susan. “Adele Opens up about Her Postpartum Depression.” CNN, Cable News Network, 1 Nov. 2016, www.cnn.com/2016/11/01/health/adele-postpartum-depression/index.html.
Weaver, Hilary. “Adele Opens Up About Parenting and Postpartum Depression.” Vanities, Vanity Fair, 31 Oct. 2016, www.vanityfair.com/style/2016/10/adele-postpartum-depression-parenting.
Two Images Cited
Figure 1. Adele from Vanity Fair: Munro, Tom. ’’ Adele Talks About her Postpartum Depression’’ Vanity Fair, 23 March 2019.
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