Britney Spears really struggled with postpartum depression.

In her new memoir The Woman in Me, out on Tuesday, the pop star opened up about the mental health challenges she faced after welcoming her sons, Sean Preston, 18, and Jayden James, 17, with her ex-husband Kevin Federline. According to an excerpt from CBS News, the Baby One More Time artist pointed out times were very different:

“Unfortunately, there wasn’t the same conversation about mental health back then that there is now. I hope any new mothers reading this who are having a hard time will get help early.”

Looking back, she credits a lot of the struggles she was experiencing in her stardom to undiagnosed postpartum depression:

“Because I now know that I was displaying just about every symptom of perinatal depression: sadness, anxiety, fatigue.”

If only she’d been able to get help sooner, maybe things would’ve been so different??

A unique complicating factor to Brit’s journey into motherhood is the fact she believes her condition was made worse by the incessant media attention she received in the mid-2000s (plus all the other mental health challenges she was facing). Things came to a boiling point when she dramatically shaved her head in 2007, noting she was “out of my mind with grief” back then, writing per the New York Times:

“I am willing to admit that in the throes of severe postpartum depression, abandonment by my husband, the torture of being separated from my two babies, the death of my adored aunt Sandra, and the constant drumbeat of pressure from paparazzi, I’d begin to think in some ways like a child.”

The 41-year-old continued:

“With my head shaved, everyone was scared of me, even my mom. Flailing those weeks without my children, I lost it, over and over again. I didn’t even really know how to take care of myself.”

Wow.

No wonder she was depressed. She had so much going on and very little support…

As we all know, Britney was placed into a court-ordered conservatorship the next year, something she eventually “went along” with so she could be “reunited with my boys.” If only she could’ve gotten help without going to such drastic measures. This was truly such a difficult time in her life, but we’re glad to see her using her experience to encourage others to get help sooner!

Thoughts? Let us know (below).

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