First published 2007
Brooke Shields sits in bed as her husband Chris prepares to bring their crying baby Rowan to her. Instead of maternal joy, panic floods her body. Her stomach churns. A tight band constricts her chest. She cannot move even a finger. What she initially mistook for simple exhaustion reveals itself as something far more devastating. Unlike the temporary sadness she experienced before menstrual periods or during life's ordinary difficulties, this darkness feels permanent and all-consuming. She admits the forbidden truth that many new mothers deny: she feels no desire to hold her own child or care for her. Her only wish is to escape. Shields refuses to hide behind the expected narrative of blissful motherhood. She exposes the raw reality of postpartum anxiety disorder, describing emotions that society expects mothers to suppress. Her honest account challenges the silence surrounding maternal mental health struggles.
Genres: psychology, mental-health, biography-memoir, parenting
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: forbidden-truth, raw-reality
216 pages · Paperback · Artemis Yayınları
Content warnings: anxiety, depression, mental-illness