2:56
- culture
- Dancing With the Stars
- December 20, 2022
Sharna Burgess opens up about postpartum fears
The "DWTS" pro took to Instagram this month to share her fears as a mom.
2:56
According to a study from BMC Psychiatry, over 70 percent of new moms report intrusive thoughts about infant-related harm. The authors of the study note that such thoughts of intentional harm are distressing to women, their partners and the people who care for them.
![\"PHOTO:](\"http://a.abcnews.com/images/GMA/sharna-gty-er-221219_1671489880159_hpMain_4x3t_384.jpg\")
Burgess said that she was apprehensive about sharing her experience with intrusive thoughts at first, but learned how normal it is and how many women experience intrusive thoughts as well.
“I think it is powerful for women to know that they aren’t alone,” Burgess said. “When you think your issues, your problems, or your thoughts are singular, you feel very isolated. And to know that there is a community of people that are like, ‘I feel you, I’ve been there.’”
One of the ways that helped Burgess was learning about several coping mechanisms including taking a moment to analyze the thought if it’s real or not and taking deep breaths.
“A big thing to understand is how crazy and chaotic those thoughts are,” Burgess said. “Taking a deep breath and really looking at the thought and saying, ‘Is this a realistic thought?’ And recognizing it and saying, ‘No, it’s not.’”
She added, “And for me, a really big one is a deep breath and holding it in. And as I blow out, imagining those words just being released out into the universe and saying, ‘I release all thoughts that do not serve me.’”
The “DWTS” pro also shared that she started therapy again as a tool, which she said has helped her learn these techniques.
![\"PHOTO:](\"http://a.abcnews.com/images/GMA/sharna-2-gty-er-221229_1671490057970_hpEmbed_2x3_384.jpg\")
Burgess and her boyfriend, Brian Austin Green, welcomed their baby, Zane, in June. Zane is their first child together and Green’s fifth boy.
Burgess has shared the highs and lows of motherhood along the way with her followers on social media, from her experience having a C-section, to postpartum recovery to updates about Zane and life at home.
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