Reese Witherspoon Got Real About What Mothers Go Through With Postpartum Depression: 'It Was Scary'

Last week, the actress appeared on Jameela Jamil‘s podcast, I Weigh with Jameela Jamil.

To refresh your memory, the Little Fires Everywhere star and her husband, Jim Toth, had been arrested for disorderly conduct after disobeying orders from a police officer.

“Out of respect for the ongoing legal situation, I cannot comment on everything that is being reported right now. But I do want to say, I clearly had one drink too many and I am deeply embarrassed about the things I said.”

Her husband's charges were much more extreme, as she pleaded guilty to his DUI charge.

“It was so embarrassing and dumb,” she said on the podcast.

“But, you know what — [it] turns out I breathe air. I bleed the same way. I make dumb decisions. I make great decisions. I’m just a human being.”

“Talent doesn’t make you a good person. But a big value in my family was, ‘Are you a good person?’”

The actress has three kids: Ava, 20, Deacon, 16, whom she had with ex-husband, Ryan Phillippe and Tennessee, 7, who she has with husband, Jim Toth.

"One kid I had kind of mild postpartum, and one kid I had severe postpartum where I had to take pretty heavy medication because I just wasn’t thinking straight at all,” the Legally Blonde star said.

Going through postpartum wasn't the first time she experienced severe anxiety and depression.

Reese told Jamil that she's been managing anxiety her whole life.

"I’ve been managing it my entire life.”

She even began going to therapy when she was 16.

“We don’t understand the kind of hormonal roller coaster that you go on when you stop nursing. No one explained that to me,” she said.

She continued:

"I felt more depressed than I’d ever felt in my whole life. It was scary.”

"I just white-knuckled back,” she said, adding that she couldn't even turn to her mother back then.

Because of this, Reese explained why it's so important for women to talk about mental health issues so that we can break down the stigmas.

“I have deep compassion for women who are going through that,” she added. “Postpartum is very real.”

To listen to the full interview, you can check it out here.