‘I stayed in a psychiatric ward for three days’
Actor Alyssa Milano says she suffered from postpartum depression that led to her checking into a psychiatric ward. Milano discussed the suffering she endured following the birth of her son Milo, in an article she penned for Time magazine recently.
“My generalized anxiety disorder was most likely triggered by my postpartum depression and my journey with mental illnesses began with my journey into motherhood,” she wrote. Milano, 45, added that after suffering a miscarriage in 2011, she became pregnant with son Milo.
“My miscarriage was heartbreaking, but this pregnancy was beautiful... Following this idyllic image of motherhood, I wrote a strict birth plan: no induction of labour, no pain medication and no c-sections,” she wrote.
Milano was forced to deliver via C-section due to certain complications. “I felt like I failed as a mother, since I was not able to give birth vaginally or nourish him with the breast milk that had not come in yet.” Though she recovered, she suffered another attack when Milo was struck down with a fever while she was preparing for a new show.
“As we began filming, my anxiety worsened... Every day, I would drive to work and think about all the ways that Milo could die in the hands of his caretakers,” Milano said. It was after this that she sought professional help. “One early morning, I went to the emergency room at 2:00 AM, asked for a psychiatrist and got help. I felt as though I had no choice: I asked to be committed; I stayed in a public psychiatric ward for three days... It wasn’t easy,” she added.