Gwyneth Paltrow Fought Postpartum Depression, Felt Like "Failure"

Gwyneth Paltrow sat down to do an interview with Good Housekeeping recently for the magazine's February issue and admitted that her battle with postpartum depression had her feeling like a failure. She noted that the depression, coupled with grief for the death of her father, affected her deeply. Paltrow noted that she "felt like a zombie" after he son was born in 2006. The actress is married to Coldplay lead singer Chris Martin, with whom she has a 6 year old daughter, Apple, and 4 year old son, Moses.

Noted Paltrow, "I couldn't access my heart. I couldn't access my emotions. I couldn't connect. It was terrible. It was the exact opposite of what had happened when Apple was born. With her, I was on cloud nine. I couldn't believe it wasn't the same [the second time]. I just thought it meant I was a terrible mother and a terrible person." Martin helped Paltrow to overcome the issues, helping her to learn that therapy was the best way to deal with the problem.

Said Paltrow, "The hardest part for me was acknowledging the problem. I thought postpartum depression meant you were sobbing every single day and incapable of looking after a child. But there are different shades of it and depths of it, which is why I think it's so important for women to talk about. It was a trying time. I felt like a failure." Paltrow admitted that a big part of why she struggled was the loss she felt at her father's death. Bruce Paltrow, a producer and director, died in 2002 at the age of just 58 after battling throat cancer. "He died eight years ago, but it's like it just happened. They say losing someone gets easier with time. I don't think that's true," said Paltrow.