Jessica Rowe has revealed how she was consumed with shame when she realized she was battling mental health issues.
TV Personality Tells Stellar Podcast something to talk about that despite seeing her mother struggle with bipolar disorder, she still felt a ‘stigma’ around her own struggles.
“My mother has bipolar disorder, and as a family we did a lot of advocacy around the discussion that there should be no stigma around mental illness,” the 53-year-old said.
“The big irony was when I realized I had a mental illness, I felt the shame and the stigma, and that was a huge wake-up call for me.”
Jessica says she felt she’d be a ‘hypocrite’ if she wasn’t honest about suffering from postpartum depression.
Jessica Rowe (pictured) has revealed how she was consumed with shame when she realized she was battling mental health issues. The TV personality tells the Stellar Something To Talk About podcast that she felt a ‘stigma’ around her own struggles.
“It was very difficult because, I remember at the time, there was a lot of criticism from some people saying that I made it up, that I was seeking attention and why would someone like me have postpartum depression?” she said.
“Yet I still think there is this myth around the joys of motherhood and how easy it is and how wonderful it is and how good we are at it and how capable we are. Now, sure, some people are…but I wasn’t.’
Jessica has spoken about her struggle with depression after leaving Studio 10 in 2018.
In an interview with the daily telegraphThe TV presenter said she decided to step away from the show to spend more time with her family.
“It was very difficult because, I remember at the time, there was a lot of criticism from some people saying that I made it up, that I was seeking attention and why would someone like me have postpartum depression?” she said
She confessed that it was only after she left the Network 10 morning talk show that she realized how exhausted she was.
“At the time, people gave me a little slack about it and said it was out of style. My choice was to lean towards my family,” she said.
‘I feel lighter and happier to be really present. I was running out of energy, juggling so much…thinking I have to have this great career, be a good mother and wife.’
Jess has been married to newscaster Peter Overton for 19 years and they share two daughters, Allegra, 16, and Giselle, 14.
He regularly speaks openly about his battle with depression and told The Australian Women’s Weekly in March 2019 that he was near breaking point when he decided to leave Studio 10.
“I could feel at the end of every show, not every day, but most days I would be on the verge of tears,” he said at the time.
“I would feel that behind my eyes and it was just a matter of holding it together. And I thought, ‘Why am I doing this to myself?’
“I knew I was sinking, I knew my anxiety was there, that it was getting me down, and if I didn’t make a change, I would start to falter.”
“The big irony was when I realized I had a mental illness, I felt the shame and the stigma, and that was a huge wake-up call for me,” Jess added.
Jess announced that she would be leaving Studio 10 during a live episode in March 2018, and has since appeared on the show as a guest.
“There was not a lighting moment in terms of making this decision. But last year we went on a family vacation, I started thinking long and hard about how being present with them made them feel and it made me feel,” he said at the time.
In a December 2019 interview with body+soul from news.com.auJess confessed that she used to feel like a ‘failure’ due to her battle with mental illness.
“I felt like a failure because of my mental illness, but now I know that it is an illness like any other and there is nothing to be ashamed of,” he said.
“I asked for help, went to a psychiatrist and started taking medication, and am much healthier mentally as a result.”
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“Yet I still think there’s this myth around the joys of motherhood and how easy it is and how wonderful it is and how good we are at it and how capable we are,” she said.