Bryce Dallas Howard Opens Up About a ‘Scary’ Childhood Event That Contributed to Her ‘Severe’ Postpartum Depression
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Postpartum depression doesn’t discriminate, and many celebrity moms have experienced the harrowing feelings of sadness, anxiety, anger, fear, or loneliness that comes after you welcome a baby. Bryce Dallas Howard recently opened up about her own experience with postpartum depression after her son Theodore, 17, was born — and the “scary” thing that happened in her own childhood she believes triggered it.
Protective Mama
The Argylle actress told PEOPLE that 2007 (when she gave birth) “was a weird time for young women in the business.” “The relationship with paparazzi and all of that was incredibly fraught for so many people,” she continued. So, she wanted to keep to herself more. “From a protective place after I had my son I withdrew a lot,” Howard explained.
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But it was more than just a fear of the paparazzi that contributed to what she described as “severe” postpartum depression. Howard was worried her child might be targeted because of her fame.
“I was actually scared. I didn’t want to risk potentially triggering something that would mean a different life for my kids,” the Jurassic World star said. “I also grew up in a situation where there were some real security (concerns) and that’s scary as a parent.”
Childhood Scare
The security concerns she’s referring to? Being targeted as a child of the famous actor and director Ron Howard, who had four kids with novelist wife Cheryl. Howard revealed that her parents discovered their phones were tapped and noticed suspicious vehicles monitoring their home in 1992, prompting the family to “move multiple times” for their safety. They finally relocated from Los Angeles to Greenwich, Connecticut.
She told PEOPLE that experience “was definitely very defining for me and it’s one of the reasons why I think I’m risk averse as a person,” Howard said. “I don’t really take risks unless I’m working. That’s where I personally am the most kind of daring and bold.”
Thankfully, Howard and her siblings were safe and everything turned out fine, but damn! What a traumatic thing to experience as a child! Then to grow up and go into show business yourself and bring a baby into the world? I can see how she would feel stressed about the situation repeating itself.
The actress, who shares Theodore and daughter Beatrice, 12, with husband Seth Gabel, added, “I’m not very strict as a parent, but I’ll ask my kids, ‘Do you think I’m strict?’ And they’re like, “No, you’re not. Except when it comes to safety.”
Focusing on the Important Things
In an April 2022 interview with SheKnows, Howard reflected on the way motherhood changed her. She said being a mom taught her “to be someone that would let go of something or an idea because it wasn’t serving my family, it wasn’t serving my children, it wasn’t serving me,” she said. “That was a huge growing experience for me and very humbling.”
These celebrity moms got real about battling postpartum depression.
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