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Annual Meeting HighlightsFull Access

Brooke Shields to Share Depression Story

Published Online:16 Feb 2007https://doi.org/10.1176/pn.42.4.0006a

Actress and former model Brooke Shields seemed to have everything: beauty, wealth, a successful career, a loving husband, and a healthy daughter. But all of that meant little when feelings of self-hatred and rejection of her new baby overwhelmed her. She was eventually diagnosed with postpartum depression, and with treatment, recovered.

Shields will discuss her battle with and eventual victory over postpartum depression at the sixth annual “Conversations” event hosted by the American Psychiatric Foundation during APA's 2007 annual meeting.

Shields, who was born and raised in New York, began her modeling career as a child. At age 12, she landed a role in the movie “Pretty Baby” and went on to appear in a number of movies, including “The Blue Lagoon” and “Endless Love.” Among her television credits is a starring role in the TV sitcom “Suddenly Susan,” which aired on NBC from 1996 to 2000.

Her struggle with postpartum depression started after the birth of her first child in 2003. In 2005 she went public with her story in her book, Down Came the Rain: My Journey Through Postpartum Depression. Media interest in the book intensified after Tom Cruise attacked Shields in a June 2005 interview on the “Today” show for taking the antidepressant Paxil to combat postpartum depression.

“Comments like those made by Tom Cruise are a disservice to mothers everywhere,” wrote Shields in an op-ed piece in the July 1, 2005, New York Times. “If any good can come of Mr. Cruise's ridiculous rant, let's hope that it gives much-needed attention to a serious disease.”

She and her husband had their second child last spring.

The “Conversations” event will be held on Tuesday, May 22, from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. in San Diego Ballroom B/C in the San Diego Marriott Hotel and Marina.

The foundation launched the “Conversations” series five years ago so that psychiatrists could hear from people whose daily lives have been affected by mental illness. The event is supported through an unrestricted educational grant from AstraZeneca.