drew. barrymore postpartum depression Archives

Drew Barrymore is on my the cover of PEOPLE magazine this week and in it, she opens up about family life with husband, art consultant Will Kopelman and their two daughters: 3-year old Olive, 3, and 18month-old Frankie.

She also talks about having a brief bout of postpartum depression after she birthed Frankie.

On experiencing postpartum depression after Frankie’s birth: “I didn’t have postpartum the first time so I didn’t understand it because I was like, ‘I feel great!’ The second time, I was like, ‘Oh, whoa, I see what people talk about now. I understand.’ It’s a different type of overwhelming with the second. I really got under the cloud. I just got right on the idea of, where do I need to be the most? Fifty-fifty would be ideal but life doesn’t work like that. Life is messy. It was just really challenging and I felt overwhelmed. I made a lot of decisions and I definitely changed my work life to suit my parenthood.”

On life after PPD, which was “short-lived, probably six months”: “It’s really important [to stay in the moment]. I was in the kids’ class with Frankie and Olive this morning and I started fretting about some piece of work news that was just stressful. You know, in like the Broadway Babies class and it’s the one-hit wonders day, and they’re singing I don’t even know what song, and we’re all doing our lollipop drums and I just thought, ‘Save it until after class.’ One thing at a time.”