Reese Witherspoon Revealed a ‘Scary’ Time When She Was ‘More Depressed Than Ever’

Reese Witherspoon rose to fame in the late 1990s and early 2000s after starring in popular movies like Cruel Intentions (1999) and Legally Blonde (2001). Since then she has become a huge star in Hollywood, with fans admiring her acting skills as well as her funny, bubbly personality.

However, while Witherspoon seems to have it all on the surface, she once shared that she went through dark periods like many people. In fact, there was a “scary” time when she found herself “more depressed than ever.”

Reese Witherspoon revealed she went through ‘severe’ postpartum depression

Witherspoon is a mother to three children: Ava (b. 1999), Deacon (b. 2003), and Tennessee (b. 2012).

In an April 2020 episode of Jameela Jamil’s podcast, I Weigh, Witherspoon opened up about her experience with postpartum depression, with some instances being rather “severe.”

“After each child, I had a different experience,” Witherspoon said, as reported by Us Weekly. “[With] one kid, I had kind of mild postpartum, and [with] one kid, I had severe postpartum where I had to take pretty heavy medication because I just wasn’t thinking straight at all. And then I had one kid where I had no postpartum at all.”

She admitted things were tough for her because postpartum depression was not widely-talked about during her pregnancies.

“We don’t understand the kind of hormonal roller coaster that you go on when you stop nursing. No one explained that to me,” Witherspoon noted. “I was 23 years old when I had my first baby and nobody explained to me that when you wean a baby, your hormones go into the toilet. I felt more depressed than I’d ever felt in my whole life. It was scary.”

Witherspoon was also unsure of where her career would go after having a kid

Witherspoon might be a huge star now, but when she had her first child in 1999, she was still trying to make a name for herself in Hollywood. As a result, she admitted she was a bit fearful for her career at that stage of her life.

“To be totally honest, it was scary. I was scared. I didn’t know what it was going to do to my job or my career,” Witherspoon told viewers in a video posted onto her YouTube page last year.

Fortunately, Witherspoon was able to find long-term success in the film industry. She even went on to start her own production company called Hello Sunshine to bring forth more women-centric stories.

Witherspoon now calls motherhood ‘the best gig’ ever

Witherspoon may be a world-famous actress, but she still values her job as a mom. In 2019, she posted a picture on Instagram with her son Tennessee and wrote in the caption: “The best gig I ever landed!”

Additionally, like many parents out there, she also seems to take pride in her children as they grow up. In a birthday post for her daughter Ava last year, she wrote: “Watching your little girl grow into a gorgeous, thoughtful, compassionate, fun-loving young woman defies words. It has got to be the greatest gift I could ever receive.”