The Case of Brooke Shields

Brooke shields experienced a severe case of postpartum depression.  Brooke went through a large amount of stress before, during, and after her pregnancy with her daughter.   This paper will give an overview of Brooke’s case as well as the biological, emotional, cognitive, and behavioral components that went along with her having postpartum depression. 

Overview of the Case of Brooke Shields

Brooke Shields was born to famous parents and became famous herself a young age.  Although she was an actress, Brooke graduated from Princeton University.  She went on to marry, divorce, and remarry.  Brooke and her current husband, Chris Henchy, wanted a baby badly and decided to try to conceive.  Their attempt was unsuccessful due to scarring on Brooke’s cervix.   First the couple tried artificial insemination, which failed.  Next they tried in vitro fertilization, which worked but led to a miscarriage.  Due to the scarring on her cervix, Brooke was unable to have a D & C procedure and had to have her baby naturally.  Brooke grew weary as the fertility treatments continued. 

Seven months later Brooke found out that she was pregnant yet again.  Brooke’s father died only weeks before Rowan Francis, Brooke’s daughter, was born.  Rowan was born with the umbilical cord wrapped around her neck (Meyer, Chapman, & Weaver, 2009).  Brooke has complications with her uterus and had to stay at the hospital, in pain, for the next five days.  Once the couple returned home with their new baby Brooke became aware that she did not feel an attachment between her baby and herself.  She felt horrible about this and became depressed.  Postpartum depression usually sets in around four weeks after delivery and can last up to six months after delivery (Miller, 2002).

After her family encouraging her to see a doctor she did, and was prescribed Paxil.  The medication did not take affect overnight, but when it did Brooke was feeling much better.  Brooke was feeling better for a while before deciding to stop her medication.  It did not take long before she was having severe panic experiences.  One day in her car she has an overwhelming urge to smash her car into something (Meyer, Chapman, & Weaver, 2009).  Brooke realized that she needed to be put back on her medication, and she needed someone to talk to.  She began seeing a therapist and went back on her medication, which led to her feeling better and enjoying her daughter. 

Biological Components

Brooke was a prime candidate for postpartum depression for many reasons; one being that she had a history of severe premenstrual syndrome.  She also had a family history of alcoholism.  Brooke’s hormones were severely manipulated while she was taking in vitro fertilization hormones, then again when she became pregnant.  Her hormones adjusted to being pregnant.  Once she had her baby Brooke’s hormones one again had to adjust.  After all that Brooke’s body had been through it was normal for her body to take time to adjust back to normal, which put her at risk for postpartum depression.  It is possible that the hormones produced from her miscarriage had yet to stabilize back to normal before she became pregnant again.  Once Brooke began taking Paxil, an antidepressant, the chemicals in her brain balanced and helped her to feel better. 

Emotional and Cognitive Components

Emotionally, Brooke was broken before she became pregnant with her daughter.  She had experienced a divorce from her first husband and then Brooke married her current husband (Meyer, Chapman, & Weaver, 2009).  She suffered emotionally after losing one of friends to suicide and her father to cancer.  Brooke went through a difficult delivery, which put more emotional stress on her.  Cognitively, she knew that she should not be feeling the way she did.  She was also cognitively aware of feeling detacher from her baby and wanted to die because of it.    She had to deal with moving into a new apartment and then having her husband go across country for work.  Brooke envisioned images such as herself jumping out of a window as well as seeing her daughter smash against a wall (Meyer, Chapman, & Weaver, 2009). 

It is common for women to experience panic attacks, crying, difficulty concentrating, and physical agitation, but not as common for women to experience severe symptoms such as delusion or hallucinations, which usually pertain to the baby (Hansell & Damour, 2008).  Brooke was aware that she needed help and sought the help of an in-home nurse for the baby as well as a psychiatrist her herself.   She was afraid that she would not be able to care for the child on her own.  Once being put on medication she was feeling emotionally and cognitively better.  She ended up quitting her medication.  Soon after she was driving and felt like smashing her car into something.  Cognitively, Brooke knew that what she was feeling was not normal and deeply wanted to have that kind of relationship with the baby. 

Behavioral Components

Brooke’s behavior was spiraling; she was crying uncontrollably, which led her family to push her to seek help.  After seeking help from a psychiatrist and taking Paxil, her behavior started to normalize.  Once she hired the help of an in-home nurse she was able to put in place a routine for herself and the baby.  After she felt better for a long period of time she decided to stop taking her medication.  Her behavior took a turn for the worse, which is when she took the initiative to seek a therapist and a psychiatrist.  Once her she was biologically, emotionally, cognitively, and behaviorally better she was able to enjoy motherhood, which is what she had desired from the beginning. 

Conclusion

Postpartum depression is quite common, but in Brooke Shields case, is can also be severe.  Postpartum depression affected Brooke in every way possible.  She experienced biological components such as a chemical imbalance and hormone manipulation.  She experienced the emotional fear of not being able to care for her child and feeling detached from her baby.  She experienced visions or harming herself and her child and felt the urge to crash her car.  She was crying uncontrollably and wanted to die.  Through the treatment of medication and seeing a therapist Brooke was able to get her life in order and begin enjoying motherhood. 

References

Hansell, J., & Damour, L. (2008). Abnormal psychology (2nd ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.

Meyer, R., Chapman, L. K., & Weaver, C. M. (2009). Case studies in abnormal behavior. (8th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson/Allyn & Bacon.

Miller, L. J. (2002, February). Postpartum Depression. JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association, 287(6), 762-765. doi:10.1001/jama.287.6.762