The actress has three children: Ava Philippe, 26, Deacon Philippe, 22 and Tennessee James Toth, 13
Reese Witherspoon is looking back on how she handled postpartum depression after being warned by her mom that the mental health condition could be genetic.
The actress, 49, shares two children -- daughter Ava Philippe, 26, and son Deacon Philippe, 22 -- with her ex-husband Ryan Phillipe. She also has a son, Tennessee James Toth, 13, with her ex-husband Jim Toth. While speaking to U.K. publication Harper's Bazaar, Witherspoon recalled the history of depression in her family.
She said her mom had depression and feared it could be genetic. Witherspoon then experienced depression for herself as a teenager and after the birth of her daughter Ava in 1999, when she was just 23.
"It was really bad," Witherspoon told Harper's Bazaar in their Dec/Jan issue. "In the first six months, I was simultaneously happy and depressed. I just cried all the time, I was up all night, I was exhausted."
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The Legally Blonde star said she wasn't prepared for how her hormones would be affected by giving birth, and when she stopped nursing six months later.
"It's hard being a young mom," she said, adding that she was "overwhelmed" by people giving their opinions on how to look after her baby. Witherspoon said a good friend encouraged her to seek help amid her struggle with postpartum depression.
"I had the connections and the means to get to a doctor, a mental-health specialist, but a lot of people don't," she told the outlet. "They struggle on their own and hide it."
"I stressed myself out in service of my job, and it got me really, really far," Witherspoon told the publication. "I'm rewarded for my anxiety and perfectionism. But I'm getting older, and am starting to relax into the idea that I'm enough.
"I mean, I've had an abundance of good fortune, great work opportunities and worked with some of the greatest people on Earth," she concluded.