Following Hollywood star Hayden Panettiere's decision to check into a treatment centre in order to seek help for post-natal depression, one equally famous mother has this week revealed she knows only too well the struggles endured by the Nashville star.
Opening up about the subject while appearing on US show The Talk, the former X Factor judge and original reality television matriarch, admitted she experienced a particularly dark period after one of her pregnancies.
Giving an insight into this particular time in her life, Sharon explained; "I did suffer from it with one of my pregnancies, but I was suffering from depression anyways."
Drawing on her own experience, the mother-of-three struck a chord with millions of mums worldwide when she said: "The depression is so dark, you feel like you're in a black fog the whole time and you just cannot cope."
"And you get to a point where you don't realise what you've got with the baby and you're just so dark and distraught and alone and it's the loneliest feeling in the world," she continued.
Sharon, who has been married to Birmingham-born rockstar Ozzy Osbourne since 1982, recalled the isolation she felt when her husband went on tour, saying: "I was on my own. My paediatrician knew I was having trouble and he helped me. But it's the loneliest place in the world. Horrible."
The star gave an incredibly heartfelt summation of the condition when she explained: "You've got this gift from God and it's a magnificent thing, the best thing in your life, but you cannot enjoy this."
Growing incredibly emotional as she recalled her battle with the devastating illness, Sharon said:" You feel inadequate to be a mother. You feel like, 'I'm no good, I don't deserve this. I can't cope."
Sharon has expressed her support for Hayden's decision to seek help at this time.
