You might remember her as the cheerleader with superpowers, a country singer chasing stardom in Nashville or a teenager determined to prove that a zebra can race against thoroughbreds. Hayden Panettiere grew up on screen and became famous for her roles in the hit sci-fi series “Heroes,” the country music drama “Nashville” and the family comedy “Racing Stripes.”
Panettiere passed away at age 36 on Sunday, August 16th at a residence in Greenville, South Carolina. According to a statement from the Greenville Police Department, emergency services responded to a report of an unresponsive female. Medical assistance was administered, but Panettiere was pronounced deceased at the scene, the statement said.
Though her alter egos on the screen were often vibrant and spunky, Panettiere’s memoir, “This Is Me: A Reckoning” details the darker side of her life. She struggled with debilitating postpartum depression (PPD) after the birth of her daughter Kaya, now 11, and battled alcohol and prescription drug addiction
“I’d think I hit rock bottom, but then there’s that trap door that opens,” she writes, talking about hitting new lows that made recovery feel like a moving target
What happens when addiction and other mental health conditions, such as PPD, team up? Why is it so difficult to break free, even when you desperately want to?
Northeastern University Bouvé College of Health Sciences professor Robert Leeman and Adrienne Griffen, executive director of the Maternal Mental Health Leadership Alliance weigh in
What makes some people more vulnerable to addiction than others?
Mind-altering substances create positive feelings while dulling negative ones, but the susceptibility to them varies widely, Leeman explained. Citing his research on impaired control, or the gap between intending to limit one’s substance use and the ability to do so, he talked about what happens when people who are biologically predisposed to addiction dabble in drugs or alcohol.
As Leeman explained, genetics, brain wiring and even metabolic differences make the reinforcing effects much stronger for some, who “tend to get more pound for pound, or ounce for ounce … they get more of the good and less of the bad.” For most people, having a drink or two “scratches an itch,” he said. For others, it sets off a cascade of more and more use driven by craving
Craving, in turn, is more than just wanting a cold beer on a hot day when you drive by a brewery, Leeman explained. Instead, it’s an overpowering feeling that takes over your day and sticks around long after the initial cue has disappeared in your rearview mirror
As a result, staying away from the substance “is a fundamentally harder choice for them than it is for folks who are at lower risk,” Leeman said
Why is it so difficult to put down a substance even if someone desperately wants to stop?
Over time, some of the rewarding aspects of the substance lose their lustre as dependence sets in and the body sees it as the new normal. Moreover, “negatively reinforcing effects can linger more,” Leeman said, explaining why stopping becomes harder
The shorter high can also make one more likely to switch from addiction to one type of substance to another, he said
Why can cravings, as well as the risk of relapse, sometimes persist even years into recovery?
It’s all about cues, Leeman said, referring to the automatic associations that can spark a craving years after years of clean time
“Those cues remain almost as salient,” he said, bringing up an example of a successful executive who put down cigarettes years ago.
“He had quit for double-digit years, but that good-tasting coffee is still a cue for cigarettes,” Leeman said
“If you’ve had a tough day, it’s hard to put those blinders on. You see these cues, you get the cue-driven craving, and then the craving cascade starts,” he explained, saying that “it can be hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel.”
What happens to the brain after giving birth, and what do we know about PPD?
Adrienne Griffen, executive director of the Maternal Mental Health Leadership Alliance, a nonprofit, explained that PPD and other mental health conditions are the most common complication of pregnancy and childbirth, affecting at least one in five new mothers, or roughly 800,000 women in the U.S. each year. It can last anywhere from several months to up to three years after giving birth
Having a baby brings a perfect storm of changes all at the same time, Griffen explained, referring to “huge hormonal shifts” and immune system changes colliding with new responsibilities, changing relationships, financial pressures and, for some new parents, isolation.
And yet, Griffen said, many struggle in silence
“No one wants to be considered a ‘bad mother,’ so new mothers often keep their thoughts about anxiety and depression to themselves,” she explained, adding that in reality, nobody has it together.
Griffen said that she is grateful that Panettiere came forward with her experience, which even became a story line in “Nashville.”
“By sharing her personal experience and featuring it in a prime time show, Hayden helped shed light on this topic and normalize it,” she said
Addiction and other mental health disorders, such as PPD, are disorienting enough on their own. What happens when someone struggles with both at the same time?
Leeman explained that mental health disruptions such as PPD can complicate matters. They change the new mother’s internal landscape, shuffling familiar thoughts in disorienting ways and making cravings show up in unexpected places while knocking helpful strategies out of reach
For example, Leeman said that cognitive behavioral therapy, which is used to treat substance use disorder by teaching people to use thought restructuring to change behaviors, is less accessible for someone also struggling with PPD, since symptoms of depression can make it harder to reach for and act on those strategies when you need them most
“It can be hard to carry out those steps,” he said, referring to catching and reframing automatic thoughts as they happen. The fallout, in turn, can linger for years, long after depression itself has lifted
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Is there a way out?
Absolutely
While recovery looks different for everyone, there are therapists, groups and rel reachable, according to the experts, who encourage anyone struggling to ask for help
Leeman mentioned that even when a craving feels overwhelming, practicing “urge surfing” to ride it out will result in the craving tapering off within several minutes.
“You think this is always going to be the case,” but that doesn’t have to be true, he said
Likewise, Griffen mentioned that it’s possible to recover from PPD, with the 24/7 National Maternal Mental Health Hotline and Postpartum Support International, an organization that provides free support, dedicated to the task. That said, many are still hesitant to be vocal about their struggles
