When Postpartum Depression Feels Like Numbness, Not Sadness

Transcript

I saw a great video this week from Lo Bosworth talking about how she has postpartum depression and it didn't look like how she thought it would look. She thought it would look like sadness or teariness. And this is where there's such a misconception around what postpartum depression actually looks like in 2026. Because I would say often it doesn't look like sadness. Most often how moms describe it to me is like a numbness. They may say, I feel blah, or I feel nothing. And what that is, is an emotional flattening. And that is depression. So when you think about depression, it has two hallmarks. One of them is low mood, of course, like sadness, teariness, feeling hopeless. The other one is called anhedonia, which is a lack of interest in the things that you used to be interested in. So when she says, I feel flat in the video, what I hear is she doesn't feel joy out of the things that she used to get joy out of. She doesn't have the high highs that she used to have and that is depression. So if you are experiencing emotional numbness, flattening, anhedonia, or a low mood, you are not alone. Postpartum depression is really common. It's also very treatable. I have a lot of resources at the link in my bio and as always follow along for more honest conversations around motherhood and mental health.