One of Country music’s favorite couples, Thomas Rhett and wife, Lauren Akins, are opening up surrounding some recent, real-life struggles as Akins battled postpartum depression.
LISTEN NOW: Thomas Rhett and Lauren Akins open up about postpartum depression
The couple bared all during an episode of Akins’ Live in Love With Lauren Akins podcast where she and Annie F. Downs welcomed Rhett as a special guest. The pair shared both sides of their experience with PPD, which came shortly after welcoming their fourth daughter, Lillie Carolina.
“'Lifeless' is not the right word, but along the lines of, like, 'dull,'" Rhett said, recalling his wife’s demeanor at the time. "It felt like a hopeless place for me."
He continued, "There was this loneliness about her, and she's not lonely. There was this un-peace about her, and she's a peaceful person. So it was like, every attribute about her was the complete 180 of herself, and I had never experienced that before."
Not realizing PPD was the cause for a shift in his wife’s demeanor at first, Rhett shared he did everything in his power to “fix” things as he thought his actions had something to do with her shutting down. As things continued to lack improvement, Rhett says he struggled to talk about it with anyone.
"You don't want it to sound like you're gossiping behind your wife's back," he said of struggling to bring the issue up to anyone. "It's not like you wanna call a buddy and be like, 'Hey, my wife's acting super strange.'"
As things continued to be “off,” Rhett gained the courage to open up to some trusted friends who he says brought up PPD and helped him guide Lauren to see a doctor.
Getting Lauren to seek professional help was not an easy feat as Rhett says he had to ask her “at least six times,” before she agreed. “In the back of my mind, I was like, 'This is not normal,'" Lauren said of finally agreeing to see a counselor. This was the first time she experienced any type of personality shift after giving birth two times before.
"I have experienced birthing children before, and I've not felt this,” she said. “As I explained what I was feeling with other friends, a couple friends were like, 'I think you might be depressed.'"
Lauren and Thomas both credit their strong network of family and friends for helping them through their struggle and supporting them every step of the way.
"Having that community that you know and trust is crucial,” said Akins. “You know that they are coming from such a place of truth and loving you, you don't get offended by very much, because you know it's coming from a place of love… We had a lot of people walk through that with us, and I'm grateful for all of those people.”
Hear the couple open up more about Lauren’s walk through PPD by tuning into the recent episode of Akins’ Live in Love With Lauren Akins podcast.
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