Ayesha Curry Lost Years of Her Life Due to Undiagnosed Postpartum Depression

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By Lilian Scott , Parent Herald Oct 25, 06:54 am

Photo: (Photo : Kelly Sullivan/Getty Images for Eat. Learn. Play)

Ayesha Curry has opened up about her struggles with postpartum depression and said that she lost at least three years of her life because her condition was not diagnosed nor discussed in the family.

In one podcast episode of "Because Life," the mom of three revealed that she experienced postpartum depression following the birth of her second child, Ryan, in 2015. She said that she felt so much like a failure when she stopped breastfeeding her daughter but did not know that her anxieties and emotional struggles at that time were symptoms of postpartum depression.

Curry, the wife of famous basketball superstar Stephen Curry, said that postpartum depression is an "invisible" concept in her family. She has never talked about it with other moms, including the moms in her family, and she was always good at hiding and suppressing her feelings. This suggested that Curry did not seek any professional help for her condition.

Depression Led to Rash Decisions

This was not the first time Curry spoke about postpartum depression. In 2019, the Food Network mom told Working Mother that her emotional struggles got so bad that it led to her rash decision to get a breast augmentation.

She confessed that she intended to get a breast lift because she felt bad about her body image, but this turned out to be "the most botched boob job" on the planet. This sent her further down the path to depression, and she started self-medicating.

Telling Sydel Curry Lee on "Because Life," the celebrity mom said her life became blurry three years after that rash choice. She knew she wasn't fun to be around, and she always felt sick and tired because of what she was doing to her body.

"Now, I can say without a shadow of a doubt [that] I had postpartum depression," Curry concluded. "But I didn't know what that was at that time."

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), one in eight moms goes through postpartum depression with symptoms like loss of energy, sadness, an "empty" mood, and an inability to make decisions or remember important things. This condition can last for years, especially if it has not been treated or managed with therapy and medication.

Back in Better Mental Shape

Today, however, Curry said that she's able to manage herself and her home and professional life a lot better. In an interview with Yahoo! Life, Curry said that she makes it a point to prioritize her mental health rituals every single day, and she strives to find the silver lining if she has a bad day.

The businesswoman also learned not to "sweat the small stuff" anymore. While she used to carry a lot of burdens as an "empath by nature," Curry said that she tries not to get worked up by things that drag her down. As long as her family is healthy and her children have food on the table, she tries to let go of the worries and stress that she carries through the day as a busy working mom.