“Fight Song” singer Rachel Platten became a mom for the second time about two months ago when she and her husband welcomed daughter Sophie. But it turns out Rachel’s been fighting her own private battle against postpartum anxiety…for a second time.
On Instagram, Rachel wrote, “I did not want to write this post…But here it is, i have postpartum anxiety again. I thought, ‘I’ll share about it when I’m ‘better.’ I’ll have a really powerful story about how i overcame it. And everyone will think oh she’s so strong bla bla.’
“But f*** that,” she continued. “i don’t want one other single mother out there to experience the same feelings of shame, loneliness, and fear that i did if maybe reading about my story NOW can help you. Because this can be hell if you think you’re alone.”
“We do not talk enough about the reality of the post partum period,” she then noted, describing what she’s going through as a “daily mental rollercoaster.”
“A wave of irrational worry or fear or depression comes and it can knock me over if i don’t use all of my tools: compassion for myself is the biggest,” Rachel explains. “But it also takes breath work, meditation, exercise, acupuncture medication…therapy, tremendous support and vulnerability and courage to ride these waves.”
Rachel adds that she’s trying to remember that she’s not just what she calls “this runaway train of a brain” — she’s “a beautiful soul…who is courageously getting herself the support she needs.”
She concludes by saying, “[I’m] sorry I’ve hid this from everyone. I didn’t want to suffer in public, not again. but i know sometimes this community is exactly the thing i need to remember how loved and supported i am, how much we all are.”
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