Nadia Essex battles ‘a touch of post-natal depression’

Nadia Essex has revealed she’s battled ‘a touch of post-natal depression’ after an emotionally ‘tough’ week of parenting her baby son Ezekiel, five months.

The former Celebs Go Dating star, 38, explained on Monday that she has been quieter on Instagram of late because ‘there has been a lot weighing on my mind’.     

The single mother-of-one told how she ‘couldn’t stop crying’ as she opened up on her mental health on her podcast, The Clueless Mum.

Nadia, who suffers with ’bouts of depression and anxiety’, explained that she had a break from social media after a ‘tough’ few days. 

The TV personality said she had her first period in more than three years following pregnancy and the contraceptive pill, which she described as ‘extremely emotional’. 

Speaking on the podcast, titled, ‘Periods, PND and & Trip To The Paediatrician’, Nadia revealed that she came off anti-depressants, which ‘worked wonderfully well’ for her, when she found out she was pregnant. 

She said: ‘I am having to try and learn to live with and manage I was on anti-depressants. 

‘I am no longer on any medication and so therefore you are all up in your feelings because I actually really loved my anti-depressants they worked wonderfully well for me – they really helped my mental health get stronger.    

‘But then when I was pregnant I wanted to come off and I did and so obviously, you know, it becomes, I don’t know, the voice in your head that is telling you that you are a s***** person just gets a bit louder.

‘And the more tired you are, and the more fatigued you are, the louder the voice becomes and the less mental strength you have to tell her to, “shut the f**k up”, basically. 

She continued: ‘And so it becomes this constant voice in your head of self-doubt and worry and anxiety and depression.’ 

Speaking about re-starting her period, she said: ‘It was tough, it was so heavy and extremely emotional and the day before I was crying over all sorts of stuff. ‘ 

Nadia also explained how she is going through the four-month sleep regression with Ezekiel and revealed that she has not slept more than a ‘four-hour chunk’ in 12 months. 

She explained: ‘His sleep pattern is now becoming more like an adult but it is very very difficult because we just have no sleep and so I am extremely tired.’ 

Nadia also revealed that she has just 10 days before she has to move out of her flat after she still hasn’t found anywhere that is ‘quite right’. 

She said: ‘It has just been one of those weeks where there has been a lot weighing on my mind. 

‘There was a couple of days where I just couldn’t stop crying and I had finished my period so it wasn’t that and I think I had a touch of post-natal depression because I just felt down in the dumps. 

‘Luckily it seems to have kind of naturally passed I am feeling the last couple of days a lot brighter.’   

Nadia, who had been given a one per cent chance of conceiving naturally, announced the birth of her baby on Instagram in March, sharing a picture of herself kissing his little hand. 

She had written: ‘He is here and he is perfect.’