Hayden Panettiere Checks Into Rehab Center Citing Postpartum Depression
Hayden Panettiere—an actress currently portraying a character suffering from postpartum depression on the ABC show Nashville—has reportedly checked into a rehab center citing postpartum depression.
According to the Washington Post, her explanation for checking into the facility is a sad case of life imitating art:
It’s also a strange blurring of the lines for viewers who watch Panettiere, 26, on ABC’s “Nashville” musical drama every week. Panettiere’s real-life pregnancy was written into the show last season, as her character —megastar country singer Juliette Barnes — had a baby. Now, Juliette is embroiled in a raw, upsetting storyline about struggling with postpartum depression. The plot was a major theme of the end of Season 3. It has carried on to Season 4, as Juliette is on a complete downward spiral refusing to get help and has abandoned her husband and newborn baby girl.
Panettiere reportedly spoke out last fall about suffering from “a bit” of postpartum depression and later told People Magazine her post-pregnancy life felt like “an 80-year-old woman trying to go down the stairs, you know, please tell me this is temporary. But I know some things will never be the same again.”
It’s unclear if the show is still filming—it was still in production as of last week—but considering how much of Panettiere’s real-life struggles have apparently made it into the script, it’ll be interesting to see how it factors into the next season.
Either way, she already had the world’s longest pregnancy—let’s hope it’s the world’s shortest recovery.
