There are many different types of depression; one type that typically does not get a lot of air time is the postpartum kind. However, it affects up to 1 out of 5 women in some U.S. states. Some symptoms are specific to this type of depression including fear that you're not a good mother and thoughts of harming yourself or your baby. It can be particularly difficult on loved ones because the duties of motherhood fall on other family members or aren't fulfilled at all. On this topic Paltrow said, “I felt like a zombie," "I couldn't access my heart. I couldn't access my emotions. I couldn't connect.”
Postpartum depression used to seem strange to me. I guess that, growing up hearing parents go on about how children are "the best thing in our lives" and "the most amazing thing to ever happen to us," it was difficult for me to understand how receiving a "gift from the heavens" could also trigger something like depression. It is important to realize, though, that these mothers are not depressed because they are unhappy with or do not love their babies; sometimes it is simply caused by a complication during the birth process. I have realized over the years that depression, in all of its forms, is an insanely uphill battle. In my mind, anyone who fights or has fought it is a hero, no matter how battered and bloody the end result may be.
I thought that postpartum depression was not widely known and felt it was more of a "post baby blues" rather than a mental illness. However, after researching I have found that feelings of sadness and depression are more common after childbirth than I realised. In fact this seems to be because of a natural effect of hormones which shift during childbirth as the elevated levels of estrogen and progesterone drop suddenly after childbirth.
Many women who have babies are suddenly forced to live completely different lives. Suddenly they are responsible for the life of another human being, and suddenly they have all these responsibilities as a mother that they never had experienced before. Many are forced to quit their jobs and live a more sedentary lifestyle at home to take care of their children (although in more developed countries, this is starting to change). Postpartum depression may also come from the fact that mothers are oftentimes forced to let go of the things they love to do because they wish to or are required to take care of their children.
Somethings that's also not discussed is that men can also suffer from postpartum depression. According to WebMD, 1 in 10 fathers has moderate to severe postpartum depression. This depression often results in a lack of engagement in the upbringin of a child, negatively affecting their child's developmental advancement. I find that this issue is not discussed enough.