Hayden Panettiere has revealed the depth of her struggle with postpartum depression, admitting she turned to alcohol to cope and spiraled into addiction.
In her memoir "This Is Me: A Reckoning," the actress details a traumatic C-section that led to a uterine infection and seven blood transfusions. She struggled to bond with her daughter Kaya in the weeks following childbirth.
Panettiere says hearing another mother admit to similar struggles gave her a euphoric sense of relief—one she became desperate to recreate through drinking. She secretly hid bottles of Fireball whiskey from her then-partner Wladimir Klitschko and drank from morning to night as her life quietly unraveled.
Even after briefly getting sober in treatment, Panettiere says returning to film season 4 of "Nashville" triggered her anxiety again, and alcohol crept back into her life. Eventually, she entered rehab for eight months in a final attempt to overcome her addiction.