Adele expresses public support for friend with postpartum psychosis

Singer Adele has shown her support for her close friend who was diagnosed with postpartum psychosis after giving birth by sharing a heartfelt message on Instagram.

Postpartum psychosis is a rare mental health condition that can lead to hallucinations, delusions and feelings of confusion.

Author and illustrator Laura Dockrill, who’s been close friends with Adele for many years, experienced the throes of the condition after giving birth to her son six months ago.

She’s since written an article explaining the trauma of her experience, which Adele has shared on social media.

“This is my best friend. We have been friends for more of our lives than we haven’t,” Adele wrote on Instagram.

“She had my beautiful godson six months ago and it was the biggest challenge of her life in more ways than one.

“She has written the most intimate, witty, heartbreaking and articulate piece about her experience of becoming a new mum and being diagnosed with postpartum psychosis.”

Dockrill’s article was published on Mother of all Lists, a website curated by Clemmie Telford, that collates articles about numerous aspects of parenting.

She details how she’s never had a history of mental health illness and how complications during the birth of her son may have been contributing factors towards her diagnosis.

“My pregnancy was a dream, I was totally prepared to be unprepared and have no history of mental illness and yet this cruel and savage sickness completely and unexpectedly swallowed me smashed me and my family against the rocks,” she writes.

“In my case it was built upon postnatal depression and exhaustion and escalated into a phase of what I can only describe as hell; mania, mood swings, insomnia, delusions, paranoia, anxiety, severe depression with a lovely side order of psychosis.”

Following an emergency C-section, Dockrill struggled with feelings of fear after returning home from the hospital, firmly in denial that she could be experiencing postnatal depression.

She began suffering from anxiety attacks, confessing that she felt as though she was a “terrible person and an awful mother.”

Dockrill was eventually hospitalised for two weeks and has found that openly talking about her experience of postpartum psychosis has helped with her recovery.

The NHS states that postpartum psychosis should be treated as a medical emergency and advises contacting a GP or calling 111 immediately for initial advice from a medical professional.

Women who experience postpartum psychosis may be prescribed antidepressants or antipsychotics and may also be treated using psychological therapy.

Dockrill decided to write her article in an effort to “raise awareness for this awful sickness and to confront the stigma attached to postnatal depression and the pressure put on women to become mothers.”

She had originally tried to conceal her illness from those closest to her.

However, Dockrill now feels “happy, confident and strong”, and is urging other mothers going through the same or similar experiences to confide in others.

“It’s nothing to be embarrassed about, it’s a chemical imbalance, an avalanche of hormones and it is NOT your fault,” she writes.