How Princess Diana secretly struggled with postpartum depression and what all mothers-to-be should know

Postpartum depression (PPD) is a long-term mood disorder that many mothers experience shortly after giving birth. Not many people know about it, but Princess Diana suffered from this problem after having her firstborn, Prince William. She couldn’t tell anyone about this problem and had to deal with it on her own. In a few interviews years later, Lady Di told the world about the psychological issues she faced and how postpartum depression deeply affected her.

At the awesome.clubwe want to share with our readers the moving story of Princess Diana’s secret battle, and we hope it will motivate new mothers who suffer from the condition to share their feelings with others rather than suffer alone.

In 1982, when Princess Diana had her first child, William, postpartum depression was something little discussed publicly🇧🇷 The princess was one of many women who had to live with the problem in silence, keeping their worries and anxieties to themselves. She spoke about her postpartum psychological problems only a few times, but still, many years later. Finally, Lady Di gave a super candid interview to British journalist Andrew Morton, who wrote a book about her called Diana: her true story.

In the book, Lady Di speaks of the enormous media pressure surrounding her first pregnancy and how things got worse after William’s birth. “I got home and soon postpartum depression hit me really hard. And it wasn’t so much the pregnancy that produced it, but the way my mind dealt with the issue.“, said. “I was young and troubled.”

That was the moment when she felt the burden of being, at the same time, wife, mother and princess of one of the most mediatic and popular monarchies on the planet. Diana confessed that she felt hopeless and worried about everything, but continued to fight in silence. “If he (Prince Charles) didn’t come home, when he said he would, I would immediately begin to imagine that something terrible had happened. Tears, panic, everything in between. He never noticed the panic, because I could sit still,” said the princess.

Diana also spoke about postpartum depression in an interview with Martin Bashir for the BBC in 1995. The princess confessed that she felt relieved when she found out she was pregnant with a boy, due to the enormous pressure she was under. But the pressure continued during and after delivery. 🇧🇷I felt like the whole country was in labor with me.”Diana said.

She added that the pregnancy was difficult; that she didn’t feel good about herself and that things got much worse after she gave birth: “So, I was feeling bad because of the postpartum depression. This is a topic that nobody talks about. It was postpartum depression, you need to read about it. You wake up in the morning feeling like you don’t want to get out of bed, she feels misunderstood and very, very bad about herself. I had never had depression in my life. But later, when analyzing, I realized that the changes adopted in the previous year had dominated me and my body was telling me: ‘I need to rest’”.

Even though Diana received treatment, she lacked time, space and family support. Furthermore, her depression has heavily affected her not only because of her physical and psychological health, but also because of her marriage. “It gave everyone a wonderful new label: the unstable, mentally unbalanced Diana. And sadly, that seems to have stayed that way over the years”she said.

When things took a turn for the worse and the pressure mounted, Diana even attempted self-harm. “When nobody listens to you, or you feel like nobody is listening, all kinds of things start to happen. for example you she has so much pain inside herself that she tries to hurt herself on the outside because she wants help. What you are asking for is help. People see you as a helpless animal or looking for attention and think that since you’re in the media all the time, you have enough attention. But I was really asking for attention because I wanted to move on and continue with my duty and my role as a wife, mother and Princess of Wales. So yes, I inflicted pain on myself. I didn’t like it, I was ashamed, because I couldn’t handle the pressures🇧🇷 I hurt my arms and legs, and now I work in environments where I see women doing similar things and I can completely understand why.”

Despite all the pain and suffering, Diana played the role of Princess of Wales, wife and loving mother. “I felt compelled to go out and fulfill my commitments not to let people down, but to support and love them. In a way, being in public helped me, though people didn’t know how much sanity they were toasting me and that helped me,” he told the BBC.

The depression resolved, but Diana suffered from bulimia for several years. This was also her “secret illness”, which she could not reveal to anyone. But soon people found out what was going on. 🇧🇷You hurt yourself because your self-esteem is so low that you don’t feel worthy or worthwhile. You fill your stomach 4 or 5 times a day (some do more than that) and feel a sense of comfort. It’s like having a pair of arms around you, but it’s temporary. So you get upset about your stomach swelling and you don’t tell anyone about it. And it’s a repetitive and very destructive pattern,” said the princess.

“If I was on what I call a ‘day out,’ or in another part of the country all day, I would come home feeling pretty empty because my commitments at that time had to do with people dying who were very sick or with marriage problems. I would come home and have no comfort or help after comforting so many people. So it was normal to raid the fridge. It was a symptom of what was going on in my marriage. I asked for help but it gave the wrong signals and people used my bulimia like a coat on a hanger: they decided that was the problem: Diana was unstable”.

Lady Di’s bulimia stayed with her for several years, and although she was surrounded by people who loved her, it didn’t ease the pressure. The princess confessed that she did not receive the help she so badly needed. But the fact is, she didn’t ask for help and acted that way because she was ashamed of her feelings and behavior.

The princess couldn’t even share that burden with her husband, as she was always the one getting all the media attention. “It was hard to share that burden because I was the only one who was always in the headlines. What I wore, what I said, what I did with my haireverything, it was a very boring subject, when in reality what we wanted was support for our work and ourselves as a team ”.

Princess Diana’s story shows how important it is to talk about your problems and seek help. Postpartum depression is a complicated disorder caused by a variety of physical and psychological factors. Hormonal balance is altered after childbirth, causing chemical changes in the brain and leading to mood swings. Furthermore, many new mothers simply they don’t sleep, rest or receive support from their families, something so necessary at a time when they are caring for a newborn baby.

If postpartum depression is not treated, it can last for months or even years, affecting seriously affects the woman’s physical and mental health, making it difficult to care for her child and even herself. Treatment for this disorder should be done by professionals and include counseling, therapy and medication if needed.

Family and friends are the first to notice the signs of postpartum depression in a new mother. So if you realize that someone or someone you love needs support, encourage them to look for an expert. If you’re suffering from postpartum depression, don’t be shy about talking about it with your family, friends or your trusted doctor to get the help you need.

Has anyone in your family, friend or acquaintance ever had postpartum depression? Did you go through this? Can you give new mothers any advice on how to handle this situation? Share your opinion and experiences in the comments section!