11 October 2023 , 10:59
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Helen Flanagan has opened up about dealing with postnatal depression, OCD and intrusive thoughts.
The former Corrie star talked about the conditions which left her in therapy for a year as she posted on World Mental Health Day. The mum-of-three said she struggled after the birth of two of her children .
She has daughters Matilda, eight, and Delilah, five, and son Charlie, two, with her footballer ex Scott Sinclair and took to her social media to share an old photo of her breastfeeding her youngest on Tuesday.
Despite looking happy in the picture, she said at the time she was really struggling. Helen took to the caption to share a message about mental health, saying: "Mental health. It's important to talk and know your not on your own and to be kind, kind as you can as life is so complicated. I struggled badly with post natal after Matilda and with Charlie x Matilda I was really unwell with after, I struggled really badly with OCD and intrusive thoughts and had CBT for a good year x."
Helen shared a post to Instagram (@hjgflanagan/instagram)
Helen said she suffered from postnatal depression (Brett D. Cove / SplashNews.com)She added: "I found an amazing book by @bryonygordon 'No such thing as normal' and I'd really recommend it x A good therapist can really help and I feel lucky I've always been able to speak to my mum and had good friends x you're not on your own x chose this pic as even though I didn't look it I had bad post natal with Charlie x."
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Fans took to the comments to thank Helen for opening up. One said: "I wish therapy was more accessible, NHS is so limited and private is so expensive. Thank you for normalising mental health problems."
"So brave Helen I had post Patrum ocd it is the worst thing Iv ever been through," another said. A third added: "Thank you for sharing. I had postpartum depression and the intrusive thoughts, luckily the intrusive part only lasted a few weeks but I thought I was going mad."
A fourth commented: "I suffered with perinatal OCD… intrusive thoughts & extreme anxiety. It was debilitating. I also was lucky enough to have CBT and a fantastic therapist but I wish there was more than could be done to highlight and support perinatal and postnatal mental health."