Hayden Panettiere Opens Up Postpartum Depression, Struggles With Alcoholism

Greg Evans
·2 min read
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UPDATE, with video Hayden Panettiere, largely absent from public view since Nashville ended in 2018, says she has struggled with alcoholism and postpartum depression in the years since the series went off the air.

In an exclusive Good Morning America and People magazine interview, Panettiere said today she “didn’t know where the alcoholism was ending and the postpartum was beginning.”

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“I didn’t have any negative feelings towards my child,” Panettiere told ABC News’ Kaylee Hartung. “I just knew I was deeply depressed.” The actor said she found support only in “the bottom of a bottle.”

“People around me were more concerned about my usage of alcohol than they ever were about the postpartum depression,” she said, adding that she felt like she was “walking blind.”

“And I don’t like to ask for help either,” Panettiere said. “I wanna be that strong, stoic woman. But, I mean, when you see a happy-go-lucky girl for years suddenly on the floor in a puddle of mess and alcohol, you gotta know something is wrong.”

Panettiere said she eventually sought help at that treatment facility, and is now sober. “It’s an everyday battle,” she said. “It really is. I’m grateful to say that I’m sober today.”

The former child star, who began acting at the age of five, claimed that she was only 15 when members of her team started giving her “happy pills” to make her “peppy” during red carpet interviews.

‘I had no idea that this was not an appropriate thing, or what door that would open for me when it came to my addiction,” she said.

 

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