Louise Thompson reveals she is starting to feel better amid PTSD and post-natal anxiety battle

She has spoken openly about her battle with PTSD and post-natal anxiety after the birth of her son Leo last year.

And Louise Thompson revealed she is doing better and is starting to think and feel like the ‘old Louise’ again as she spoke openly about her mental health.

The Made in Chelsea star, 32, admitted she is still suffering from some symptoms of PTSD but said she has started to feel better since starting new medication for depression and anxiety.

She has previously revealed that she has suffered from PTSD after nearly dying and spending five weeks in hospital following  ‘serious complications’ after giving birth.

Taking to Instagram in a candid statement on Monday, she spoke about how she felt ‘incredibly fragile’ on the inside but said she didn’t feel ‘mentally strong enough’ to explain what happened to her.

She began: ‘I am a prime example of how someone can look good on the outside and still feel incredibly fragile on the inside.

‘I’m glad that sharing my story has helped normalise some of your problems and helped people feel less alone in their suffering.’

She continued: ‘Quite a lot of you have asked for more details on what actually happened to me. Unfortunately I’m not in a position to do this right now for 2 reasons:

‘1. I have a lot of pregnant friends and I don’t want to scare anyone – I would hate to hear my story whilst pregnant.

‘2. Apparently I don’t know the full extent of what happened to me second time round and I’m not mentally strong enough to go in for my debrief yet. 

‘I have however been told by one of my mental health doctors that it’s worse than what I think I know, and trust me what I do know is absolutely horrendous so let’s just assume the worst and I think you’re there.’

Opening up about her mental health struggles, she revealed she has started new medication and is ‘gradually’ starting to feel better amid her battle with PTSD.

The fitness enthusiast admitted she has suffered from ‘unpleasant side effects’ from the medication but said she is feeling a ‘vast’ amount better than she was.

The Londoner has been brutally honest about how she copes with the PTSD she suffered during her labour with Leo. As a result, she now takes medication designed to help with depression and anxiety.

She continued: ‘I’ve been on my new medication escitalopram for nearly 4 weeks and am still having some unpleasant side effects. 

‘It’s still a bit up and down but a VAST improvement on the sertraline which just didn’t suit me at all (I just want to be clear that I have close friends who have had great success on Sertraline so if you’re on it then please don’t panic).

‘Sadly it is NOT a one size fits all policy, we all have a different genetic makeup/physiology. Personally it made me feel v agitated, like I wanted to drill a hole into both ears and release some pressure in my brain. 

‘I couldn’t concentrate on anything other than the sheer discomfort. Thankfully (or I wouldn’t be alive) it would come in waves so I would have moments of total clarity.

‘Aside from that I’ve managed to ween myself off the antipsychotics and I’m gradually starting to have more “old Louise” thoughts.’

Although she said she is still suffering from some PTSD symptoms, she candidly revealed they are nothing like what she was experienced before.  

‘I’m now having some more regular PTSD symptoms like nasty flashbacks which are a total doddle to deal with when compared to the brain fire hell I experienced before,’ she said.

Since opening up about her struggle, Louise has been inundated with messages from new mothers who said they feel the same and thanking her for her honesty. 

‘It’s amazing when someone can find the ability to be so considerate of everyone around them (friends that are pregnant, others on sertraline and followers etc.) whilst going through so much,’ commented one follower.

‘You have helped so many with your openness and honesty about your health’, another said.

While a third wrote: ‘I think it’s so important that you’ve been speaking out (but on the flip side it’s rubbish you’ve had all these health issues!). It’s so nice to have someone so refreshing on my feed, showing that what goes on behind Instagram isn’t all rosy.’

And another added: ‘I absolutely applaud your honesty and I don’t doubt that you’ve had countless awful hours and days but I’m sure it’s far outweighed by the people you have helped.’

Louise first shot to fame as one of the stars of elite reality show Made In Chelsea following the lives of the rich and affluent socialites living in Fulham and Chelsea. 

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After her on/off again romance with badboy Spencer Matthews and US fashion heir Alik Alfus, Louise met PT Ryan Libbey in 2016 and fell head over heels. The pair got engaged in August 2018 after two years of dating.

In March 2021, Louise revealed she and partner Ryan Libbey had suffered a miscarriage describing it as ‘one of the hardest things I’ve ever done’. 

The star spoke out via her social media and told her followers: ‘Sometimes the timing isn’t right and I need to be patient with what is to come in the future…⁣’

Shortly after her miscarriage, Louise announced that she and fiancé Ryan were expecting again. 

In November 2021, she revealed she had given birth but the labour had not been easy. Louise suffered complications and spent a month in hospital after giving birth to her baby son.

She has since spoke openly on social media about her battle with PTSD and post-natal anxiety, and recently celebrated her son Leo turning six months old.

In a lengthy caption, she wrote about the pressures to lose weight after having a baby and how much she struggled to eat following Leo’s birth. 

She began by writing: ‘6 months old. I can’t believe I grew you in this tummy.

‘The body is remarkable. I never understood how my skin was going to just stretch back, but it did.

‘I actually wrote something about the pressures of losing weight post partum about 3 months ago but I haven’t felt like I’ve wanted to post about heavy stuff at all because everything just scares me so much. 

‘I actually wrote loads of really quite profound things during the early days of my recovery because I was doing A LOT of writing (most of it trash) but I haven’t really wanted to look back quite yet. 

‘I can’t remember a lot of stuff from yesterday let alone a few months ago, in fact I’ve never lived so in the present in my life. I don’t have the choice anymore. Kinda grateful, kinda not.

‘Anyway here we go… take it or leave it. I hope it makes someone feel a little better.’

Louise then candidly shared her experience, penning: ‘We spend our whole lives wanting to be skinny until you get ill and then you realise it is a total privilege to be able to eat normally and to be able to maintain a normal healthy weight. 

‘I lost the 20kg I put on during pregnancy during my time in hospital. I couldn’t eat for a month. 

Recalling an incident where brother Sam Thompson tried to get her to eat a small chocolate, she said she struggled so much she thought she had cried. 

She said: ‘I remember when my brother visited me and he tried to force me to eat a lindor ball and I could only take it down in mouse sized nibbles, then it made me feel so sick because of all the medication I was on. I think I actually cried. 

‘Even when I was able to eat I was so scared that I would contract covid from eating anything that had been contaminated by other people’s hands that I started obsessively wiping down everything with antiseptic and refusing hospital food.

‘I would only eat things like bananas in skins or things in clean packages. If I got covid I wouldn’t have been allowed visitors and I felt like I would have died because I had post surgery pneumonia too.

‘The moment I developed a normal appetite was the moment I knew I was getting better. It is nice to feel hungry and to be able to enjoy the taste of food. It really is one of life’s great pleasures and shouldn’t be seen as the enemy. 

‘So if you’re overly worried about shedding the pounds then think about your priorities: health vs vanity.’

‘Having said that I am now on one of the first self inflicted diet I’ve ever been on in my life. I will explain more but it is a special diet for my ulcerative colitis which is causing a great deal of bleeding since being on my mental health medication. A major catch 22.⁣⁣’

⁣⁣She concluded by adding some advice to parents, saying: ‘Ps. If you’re struggling with parenthood then remember you’re not alone. I was just reading my messages to myself on my group WhatsApp (with myself) and the first time I left the house with Leo on my own was when he was nearly FOUR MONTHS OLD!

‘I was chatting to my friend the other day… we were making each other feel better about our rubbish parent habits and we reminded ourselves that our earliest memories were when we were literally like 5 years old. Phew. All they really need is love and cuddles from a set of warm arms.’

Louise gave birth to her first child back in November and spent five weeks in hospital suffering from complications after nearly dying during labour.

On December 23, Louise admitted that she ‘never imagined that so many bad things could happen to me, but to dance with death twice brings a whole new view of the world – a stark reminder of how short and sacred life really is.’

If you have been affected by anything in this story please contact Birth Trauma Association at birthtraumaassociation.org.uk

For help and support with perinatal mental illness please contact PANDAS on 0808 1961 776