Postpartum depression affects many new moms. Chrissy Teigen is one of them.
'My eyes welled up because I was so tired of being in pain.'
From scanning her hilarious, candid, glamorous Instagram profile, Chrissy Teigen's life looks picture-perfect.
But looks can be deceiving.
"I had everything I needed to be happy," the entrepreneur, model, and cookbook author wrote in a powerful new essay for Glamour. "And yet, for much of the last year, I felt unhappy. What basically everyone around me — but me — knew up until December was this: I have postpartum depression. How can I feel this way when everything is so great?"
Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images.
In her essay, Teigen opens up about the ways she experienced postpartum depression after giving birth to her daughter, Luna, in April 2016.
She experienced physical pain:
"Getting out of bed to get to set on time was painful. My lower back throbbed; my shoulders — even my wrists — hurt. I didn’t have an appetite."
She didn't feel like working or hanging out with friends:
"When I wasn’t in the studio, I never left the house. I mean, never. Not even a tiptoe outside. ... Most days were spent on the exact same spot on the couch and rarely would I muster up the energy to make it upstairs for bed."
She felt like she was losing what made her, her:
"I couldn’t figure out why I was so unhappy. I blamed it on being tired and possibly growing out of the role: 'Maybe I’m just not a goofy person anymore. Maybe I’m just supposed to be a mom.'"
During a routine physical in December 2016, Teigen finally broke down in front of her doctor: "My eyes welled up because I was so tired of being in pain."
After discussing her symptoms, her physician diagnosed Teigen with postpartum depression and anxiety (her anxiety, according to Teigen, explained some of the physical ailments she was dealing with).
Photo by Dave Kotinsky/Getty Images for NYCWFF.
"I know I might sound like a whiny, entitled girl," wrote Teigen, who's the first to admit she couldn't possibly have the life and career she has without a lot of help from others. "Plenty of people around the world in my situation have no help, no family, no access to medical care."
She wants others who may be suffering to understand that plenty of people are in the same boat.
Postpartum depression isn't rare: 1 in 9 women experience it, according to CDC estimates.
That's likely an underestimation, seeing as the CDC doesn't take into consideration those who miscarry or have stillborns; those women can have postpartum depression too.
What's more, postpartum depression remains widely untreated, as just 15% of those living with the condition receive professional help. As Postpartum Progress notes, not enough doctors screen women for postpartum depression, and stigma surrounding mental illness discourages many woman from reaching out for help.
Teigen wants to shift the status quo.
"I’m speaking up now because I want people to know it can happen to anybody," she wrote. "And I don’t want people who have it to feel embarrassed or to feel alone."
To learn more about postpartum depression and access help, visit Postpartum Progress.
There's a reason why some people can perfectly copy accents, and others can't
Turns out, there's a neurodivergent link.
A woman in black long sleeve shirt stands in front of mirror.
Have you ever had that friend who goes on vacation for four days to London and comes back with a full-on Queen's English posh accent? "Oooh I left my brolly in the loo," they say, and you respond, "But you're from Colorado!" Well, there are reasons they (and many of us) do that, and usually it's on a pretty subconscious level.
It's called "accent mirroring," and it's actually quite common with people who are neurodivergent, particularly those with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). According Neurolaunch, the self-described "Free Mental Health Library," "Accent mirroring, also known as accent adaptation or phonetic convergence, is the tendency to unconsciously adopt the accent or speech patterns of those around us. This linguistic chameleon effect is not unique to individuals with ADHD, but it appears to be more pronounced and frequent in this population."
Essentially, when people have conversations, we're constantly "scanning" for information—not just the words we're absorbing, but the inflection and tone. "When we hear an accent, our brains automatically analyze and categorize the phonetic features, prosody, and intonation patterns," writes Neurolaunch. For most, this does result in copying the accent of the person with whom we're speaking. But those with ADHD might be more sensitive to auditory cues. This, "coupled with a reduced ability to filter out or inhibit the impulse to mimic…could potentially explain the increased tendency for accent mirroring."
While the article explains further research is needed, they distinctly state that, "Accent mirroring in individuals with ADHD often manifests as an unconscious mimicry of accents in social situations. This can range from subtle shifts in pronunciation to more noticeable changes in intonation and speech rhythm. For example, a person with ADHD might find themselves unconsciously adopting a Southern drawl when conversing with someone from Texas, even if they’ve never lived in the South themselves."
People are having their say online. On the subreddit r/ADHDWomen, a thread began: "Taking on accents is an ADHD thing?" The OP shares, "My whole life, I've picked up accents. I, myself, never noticed, but everyone around me would be like, 'Why are you talking like that??' It could be after I watched a show or movie with an accent or after I've traveled somewhere with a different accent than my 'normal.'
They continue, "Apparently, I pick it up fast, but it fades out slowly. Today... I'm scrolling Instagram, I watch a reel from a comedian couple (Darcy and Jeremy. IYKYK) about how Darcy (ADHD) picks up accents everywhere they go. It's called ADHD Mirroring??? And it's another way of masking."
(The OP is referring to Darcy Michaels and his husband Jeremy Baer, who are both touring comedians based in Canada.)
Hundreds of people on the Reddit thread alone seem to relate. One comments, "Omfg I've done this my whole life; I'll even pick up on the pauses/spaces when I'm talking to someone who is ESL—but English is my first language lol."
Sometimes, it can be a real issue for those around the chameleon. "I accidentally mimicked a waitress's weird laugh one time. As soon as she was out of earshot, my family started to reprimand me, but I was already like 'oh my god I don’t know why I did that, I feel so bad.'"
Many commenters on TikTok were shocked to find out this can be a sign of ADHD. One jokes, "Omg, yes, at a store the cashier was talking to me and she was French. She's like 'Oh are you French too? No, I'm not lol. I'm very east coast Canada."
And some people just embrace it and make it work for them. "I mirror their words or phrase! I’m 30. I realized I start calling everyone sweetie cause my manager does & I work at coffee shop."