\t\t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t <\/p>\n \tRelated story \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\tMichael J. Fox Shares the Reason He Still Feels ‘Privileged’ 35 Years After Parkinson’s Diagnosis\t\t<\/p>\n <\/span><\/p><\/div>\n \t\t<\/a><\/p>\n<\/article>\n \t \n\t\u201cThe depression piece inside PPD<\/a>, unfortunately and fortunately, I was familiar with it,\u201d Morissette said. \u201cIt was all the other stuff. It was the invasive thoughts and the terror \u2014 just all I could picture was death and terrible things.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tThe clinical term for these alarming mental images is \u201cperinatal intrusive thoughts,\u201d and according to the International OCD Foundation<\/a>, 70-100% of new moms have them.\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tUnlike postpartum psychosis<\/a>, which is a psychiatric emergency where a person loses touch with reality, \u201cintrusive thoughts\u201d are unwanted flashes of disturbing mental images or scenes where a mother envisions harming her child \u2014 even though she is horrified by the thought and would never actually act on it.<\/p>\n \n\tMorissette described her own visions as \u201charrowing, terrible, ceaseless.\u201d She also pointed out the harsh expectations placed on women who just went through \u201cthe most transformative, traumatic experience that physiologically a human being could ever go through.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cThe minute the mother gives birth, it\u2019s like we get invisible again,\u201d Morissette continued. She described the jarring shift from being surrounded by care during pregnancy to suddenly facing demands to \u201cget up\u201d and lose the baby weight.<\/p>\n \n\tThe intense anxiety also made her worry about how her loved ones viewed her. \u201cThe bummer for me inside PPD<\/a> was that I was losing people\u2019s trust in my sanity,\u201d Morissette said, adding that people looked at her like she might \u201cfly off the handle.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tShe admitted that she even \u201cdipped into psychosis\u201d while pushing through stage shows on tour. \u201cInvasive thoughts, anxiety, depression, rage, off the charts. I felt [so] out of control. Yet, I was touring and leading and being a boss and taking care of money and finances and everything,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \n\tNow on the other side of her struggle, she expressed relief to feel like herself again. When asked why she chose to speak out while actively suffering, she replied, \u201cIt just was what was happening.\u201d She shared that her phone immediately blew up with messages from families in the same situation.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n![\"Michael](\"https:\/\/www.sheknows.com\/wp-content\/themes\/vip\/pmc-sheknows-2020\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.gif\")
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\n<\/section>\n<\/p>\n\n\t\tPPD and Intrusive Thoughts\u00a0\t<\/h2>\n
\n\t\tA Loss of Trust and Speaking Out\t<\/h2>\n