Brooke Shields Reveals Dangerous Turn Postpartum Depression Took When She Quit Meds Cold-Turkey

Actress Brooke Shields opened up about the dangerous situation she experienced during her postpartum depression when she stopped taking her medication abruptly.

Shields, who shared her story in her memoir “Down Came the Rain” in 2006, gave further details about her experience during a podcast interview promoting her new documentary, “Pretty Baby,” on Hulu.

The actress admitted that, at first, she refused to take medication despite suffering from postpartum depression after her daughter Rowan’s birth. However, after her mother-in-law called her out, Shields started taking the medicine.

It took her almost a year to find the right medication for her condition. However, she stopped taking the medication without consulting her doctor when she started to feel better.

Shields said she realized her mistake when she experienced severe depression while driving on California’s 405 freeway, admitting “I thought I was going to drive my car into the wall on the 405.”

Her instinct was to immediately call her doctor, who instructed her to start taking the medication again. Her doctor stayed on the phone until she was safely home.

Shields received criticism from Tom Cruise who suggested that she should not have taken medication for postpartum depression. She fired back by saying “I’m going to take a wild guess and say that Mr. Cruise has never suffered from postpartum depression.”