Halle Bailey is so deep in the grip of “severe” postpartum depression she feels like she’s drowning and suffers dissociation from her body.
‘The Little Mermaid’ actress, 24, had her first child, a son named Halo, with her rapper and vlogger husband DDG, 26, in January and has now told fans she has been suffering a serious case of what some casually dub “baby blues” – but which can be hormonal changes so serious they can spark anxiety, crying and restlessness that require urgent medical intervention.
Halle said in a video posted on her Snapchat about her battle with the condition that even though she is with her “perfect” baby boy, she is stricken with a “really bad” case of the condition.
She added: “I have severe, severe postpartum (depression), and I don't know if any new moms can relate, but it’s to the point where it’s really bad, and it’s hard for me to be separated from my baby for more than 30 minutes at a time before I start to kind of freak out.”
Halle added her partner DDG – real name Darryl Dwayne Granberry Jr – is the “most amazing daddy in the world” and has been supporting her through her struggle.
She went on: “Halo is a miracle. He is perfect. He is beautiful. When I look at him, I cry because of how special he is.
“The only thing that's been hard for me is feeling normal in my own body.
“I feel like a completely different person. When I look in the mirror, I just feel like I’m in a whole new body. Like, I don’t know who I am.”
Halle added about how she feels there is still a stigma surrounded depression in general: “Before I had a child and I would hear people talk about postpartum, it would kind of just go in one ear and out the other.
“I didn’t realise how serious of a thing it actually was. Now going through it, it almost feels like you’re swimming in this ocean that’s like the biggest waves you’ve ever felt and you're trying not to drown.
“And you’re trying to come up for air.”
Halle stressed her depression had “nothing to do” with Halo, and admitted she had been “triggered” the day she made her video by seeing comments online about her and her family.