Mena Suvari says she struggles with postpartum depression “every day” since delivering her 1-year-old son Christopher.
In a new interview on the podcast Broad Ideas with Rachel Bilson, the actress, 43, opened up about dealing with anxiety from an early age and how it’s taken more shape since becoming a mom.
In her 2021 memoir The Great Peace, Suvari writes of surviving sexual abuse at 12 years old and overcoming drug addiction as a young actress in Hollywood. Writing the book, she said, was cathartic, and helped her navigate much of that old pain.
When recalling Christopher’s delivery, Suvari says she spent “24 hours at home” and “24 hours at the hospital” in labor. At one point, the hospital gave her an epidural that “they had to redo again.”
Ultimately, she ended up having an emergency C-section.
Still, the actress says striving for a healthier outlook is a daily task.
Working with a postpartum doula who helps her understand her feelings so that she may better direct them, Suvari says, she recalled a moment when she realized the magnitude of her pain.
Now, Suvari hopes she can help other mothers who may also fail to understand their own struggles.
The actress has opened up in the past about how she’s dealt with struggles — particularly the sexual trauma she faced as a young girl.
Writing of these experiences in her memoir, she added, allowed her to recognize the harm that had been done.
