Scheana Shay gets teary-eyed talking about her battle with postpartum OCD following the April 2021 birth of her daughter Summer Moon.
“I feel like the amount of work I’ve been doing in therapy with learning I have postpartum OCD, I feel so much more confident as a mom,” the “Vanderpump Rules” star says on Page Six’s “Virtual Reali-Tea” podcast.
“It’s something that I’ve been talking about a lot on my [‘Scheananigans’] podcast lately,” Shay, 37, continues, “just because I feel like a lot of women will get misdiagnosed with postpartum depression when it’s postpartum OCD.”
According to the National Institutes of Health, postpartum OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder) is marked by “major mood disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder and psychosis with infanticidal thoughts.”
Advertisement
Shay, who shares Summer with husband Brock Davies, says her own intrusive thoughts ultimately led to her diagnosis. “I was just like, ‘Why am I seeing these things in my head? I don’t want to harm anyone I love. I don’t want these things to happen, but I just kept seeing them,’” she recounts. “And one day I just decided to tell my therapist.”
The “Good as Gold” singer elaborates, “When it started being about my baby … even when we’re just on our balcony, I know I’m not going to toss her off my balcony but in my head, I’m like, ‘Oh my God, what if she just jumped out of my arms right now and fell off the balcony?’
“And those thoughts were just so disturbing and once I talked to my therapist about it, she was like, ‘It really sounds like you have postpartum OCD.’”
Shay has made significant strides with exposure with response prevention therapy, involving exposure to feared situations — usually related to infant care — while simultaneously preventing compulsive rituals.
“That’s the thing with OCD is that it attaches to your biggest fears and then you just see them happening all of the time and it’s terrifying. But I just have to tell myself, ‘This isn’t going to happen, it’s not going to happen, you got this,’” she says.
Read Related Also: Kate Ferdinand admits she still feels like an ‘outsider’ and ‘not part of the family’ as she opens up on life with Rio
Shay urges fellow new moms experiencing similar challenges to “advocate for [themselves]” at doctor appointments.
“Reach out for help just because there’s so many resources that I just feel so much better in the few short months that I’ve been getting help myself,” she says.
Advertisement
Shay reveals it was once impossible for her to drive alone with Summer, now 21 months, but is “proud” of herself for the mother-daughter rides they take today.
“I couldn’t drive by myself with her up until, like, a few months ago. It’s really terrifying being a mom because I don’t want to mess up, I don’t want anything to happen to her when I’m by myself. But even though I’m crying right now, I do feel like in the last few months I’m just so proud of myself because I’ve done so much on my own,” she says.
“Several times a week, I either will take her to my mom’s house, I’ll take her to a music class by myself, I took her over to Brittany [Cartwright]’s this weekend by myself,” Shay continues.
“I’m just trying to do more things by myself and that’s made me feel so good. When I get there, I’m like, ‘Yes, I did that on my own.’”
Check out Shay’s full “Virtual Reali-Tea” podcast here.
“Vanderpump Rules” airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET on Bravo.
