It IS okay to be a mother, a good mother, who isn’t always with her children 24/7. I think having other interests makes a woman more interesting and interested.

Maddie and Tina, I couldn’t agree more. If this were Angelina Jolie (even Briteny would get a pass) my God the outcry would be heard around the world. Seal said something about parents needing to place their relationship first for the purpose of being the best for the kids (of which I agree with him just as I do with Brooke) anyway, that one came and went without a peep, but had it been Angelina? we’d still be rumbling about it lol.

Lila, I’m so sorry to hear about your brother — what a horrible tragedy! I do wonder, though, what your basis is for thinking that anti-depressants are addictive and worse than “heroin or marijuana.” Do you have any research to back that up, or is it just your gut instinct based on the terrible experience with your brother? IME, anti-depressants can be a most useful tool in relieving acute depressive symptoms so that the person *can* deal with whatever they need to. Truly depressed people aren’t clear thinkers, nor do they have much energy left over after battling their demons day in and out. Again, I’m so sorry about your brother, but it would be a shame if other depressed people who could benefit from medical intervention were scared off by a fear of “addiction.” Depression is a generally treatable disease with a relatively high mortality rate, so it’s important to seek treatment. Best wishes.

Lila I see where your coming from. But how do you try to deal with someone trying to kill themselves on a regular basis? If there are ways to help besides using AD’s, you know ways that are effective. I would like to know because so many lives would be saved. I’m not a fan of shrinks and I hate meds. But don’t you think some people really do need them? I’m sorry for what happened to your brother. What about the people who have the “Chemical” depression opposed to just depression. Can they help it? can some one really make that big of a difference in their lives that it will go away, and it wont go on for generations? I think what Brooke said is very real she is not trying to mask it, it is how she feels. Britney spears for example, and this is just my opinion jumped into the married family life so fast. She was still so young. And it really seemed like she wasn’t the type of person to just settle with giving up what she really likes to do. I mean look at what happened afterwards. I’m not saying she regrets her kids but if she could do it again would she get married and have children? After I had my son I thought I was going to be a horrible mom. I was so overwhelmed I thought I was going to do something wrong. Don’t get me wrong I loved my son when he was first born, and still do with all my heart. I thought to myself that all I had to do was be myself. I’m a caring person, I treat others well. I would give up everything for someone I really loved. I directed that all towards my son, because I have never felt so sure about anything in my entire life.

I am not going to judge Brooke, I know as a mother, all children evoke different feelings in you and there not one formula for parent hood. I think people judge her differently from Angelina and Britney because they all have different histories and backgrounds. I was on Tom’s side about Anti-depressants because my young brother was addicted to them and they eventually ended his life, (he committed suicide). My problem was that Tom gave Brooke as an example which was wrong. He should have talked to her in person. Up to today, I believe anti-depressants and going to kill all of us and wreck our lives while someone is making money from them. They are as bad as heroin or marijuana only worse because they deceive us into thinking they are O.K. I am glad brooke is fine now but those drugs need tougher regulation and should not be the quick fix for every one. Depression sometimes is a natural sign from our bodies that something is wrong and we need to deal with what is wrong not try to mask it with drugs!

Oh trust me, Tina-I know this site, and the comments are coming. They just haven’t arrived yet. The minute I read that quote I thought, “Oh, she is gonna get RIPPED.” I completely agree with her and, like you, I would agree with any mother who may have said it, regardless of what I thought of them personally.

I really respect Brooke for being so honest.

And while I agree with you Tina about the double standards in the comments section I think the Britney has earned a lot of the contempt people have for her from the times when she put their lives at risk. I’m not saying that justifies people picking apart every little thing she does, but when it comes to safety issues I think everyone has a right to be upset.

Let me preface this by saying I like Brooke and I was behind her 100% during the whole Tom Cruise against postpartum drugs issue but if Angelina Jolie or Britney Spears made the next comment

“24/7 with the kids? I don’t know how people do it. If my main job was just to be with the two of them, I would not be as effective. I would be short-tempered; I would be less appreciative. Some people just revel in it, and that’s beautiful. I revel in a different way.”

it would be getting slammed left and right in the comments section. The thing is I agree with her comment 100% and I would have agreed with it if ANY other mom said it. But I think it would have been funny to substitute Brooke’s name for Angelina’s or even Britney’s to see how people would respond.

What a beautiful picture of Brooke and her girls – I love photos in black and white it gives them a whole different ‘look’!

I think Brooke has been so brave to talk about her personal problems so openly, which I am sure helped many other women in the same situation.