Adele is helping spread the word about something many new moms face – postpartum depression.
The singer took to Instagram on Monday to share her friend Laura Dockrill’s personal story.
“This is my best friend. We have been friends for more of our lives than we haven’t,” Adele captioned a photo she shared with her 32.6 million followers. “She had my beautiful godson 6 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. Mamas talk about how you’re feeling because in some cases it could save yours or someone else’s life.”
Adele provided a link to Dockrill’s story, in which she opened up about how her “psychosis took a dark turn” and she confronted “suicidal thoughts.”
Dockrill admitted: “I realized that I knew absolutely nothing about depression because what the hell does depression even feel like? How do you capture it and label it? How do you quantify it or understand something so intangible?
“My ignorance and denial encouraged me to stridently continue even though I knew I was struggling.”
Dockrill also had an important message for new moms dealing with postpartum depression. “You don’t have to brave it alone,” she said. “You don’t have to act like a hero, you already are one.”