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Hayden Panettiere: Post-Partum Depression Doesn’t Mean You’re A Bad Mom, Or That You’re Strange Or Weak

By Stacey Cole
Published on: 01:59 PST, Jan 23, 2016

Hayden Panettiere, who stars in Nashville and is the mother to daughter Kaya, born in December 2014, had quite the year in 2015. E! News reports that Panettiere has struggled with post-partum depression since the birth of her daughter and has been determined to bring that struggle out into public.

Panettiere said on the red carpet at the Critics’ Choice Awards that going public has made it easier for her.

“It made my life better. I do feel and hope it’s made other people’s lives better and more of an understanding because postpartum depression was not something that I ever understood. You could never understand it unless you have a personal involvement with it. I didn’t realize how much of a stigma it had about it.”

Things got so bad for Hayden Panattiere that she checked herself into a treatment center in October to get help for her depression. She explains how bad it was.

“I’ve been doing this for so long and I feel like I have been hiding who I was really am and was just afraid, terrified that someone was going to judge, someone wasn’t going to like something that I said, something that I wore, something I did.”

Now she is ready to tell the world about and to set a good example for her daughter.

“I want to put out a good example for my daughter and tell her that she could be anyone she wants to be, she does not have to be afraid that somebody’s not going to like it because no matter what you do, there’s always going to be somebody who doesn’t like it. I was floored by the positive response and really happy I could stand up for the women who are out there suffering from this and let them know it’s OK, they’re not alone. It doesn’t mean they’re weak. It doesn’t mean they’re a bad mom. It doesn’t mean they’re strange and that they could get help if they need it.”

Hayden Panettiere has had a great year, despite her troubles with post-partum depression. She was nominated for Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for her role in Nashville.

She also looks quite happy these days. Daily Mail reports that Panettiere rang in the New Year with friends and looked as though she was having a great time doing so. She posted a pic on Twitter from her fun New Year’s celebration, with a belated Happy New Year wish for her followers.

TV Line reported last week that Hayden Panettiere will be returning to Nashville as Juliette Barnes now that she is finished with her medical treatment for post-partum depression. She had taken a leave of absence from the show in October to seek out treatment and she returned to the set on Friday, January 8. Her character, Juliette, was also battling post-partum depression and was last seen on the show on the November 18 episode. Showrunner and executive producer Dee Johnson always expected Hayden Panettiere to return to the show.

“It’s not the entire season, it’s just for now. We’ve had to make adjustments, but it’s not uncommon for shows to have to make such accommodations when real life intervenes.”

It’s nice to know that Hayden Panettiere is well on her way to getting back to a normal life and is handling motherhood and her career well. After all, fans certainly missed her when she was gone from Nashville and having her back will be fantastic. Good for you, Hayden Panettiere!

[Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images]

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