Hayden Panettiere is suffering from postpartum depression (PPD) and according to her publicist last Tuesday, the "Nashville" star enrolled herself in a treatment facility to seek help about her condition, PEOPLE reported.
The 26-year-old mother to 10-month-old Kaya Evdokia has been very open about the challenges that she went through after she gave birth to her child with fiancé Wladimir Klitschko.
During her September guesting on "Live With Kelly and Michael," the actress also shared bout her condition and how she can relate to her on-screen character.
"You don't realize how broad of a spectrum you can really experience that on. It's something that needs to be talked about," she said.
"There's a lot of misunderstanding — there's a lot of people out there that think that it's not real, that it's not true, that it's something that's made up in their minds," Panettiere added.
Panettiere went on to describe that the experience is "really painful" and "really scary" that women who go through the same situation should get the right amount of support.
With Panettiere "voluntarily" seeking treatment, what will happen to Juliette of "Nashville"?
In the finale episode of "Nashville" season 3, Panettiere's character, Juliette Barnes, snapped at husband Avery (Jonathan Jackson) and almost involved her baby Cadence. At the start of season 4, Panettiere's character was seen partying without thinking about her family.
According to TVLine, a source confirmed that the production team is trying to cope with Panettiere's sudden exit from the show. Meanwhile, a source for PEOPLE said that the PPD storyline was planned even before the actress decided to seek treatment.
It was also reported that the actress was about to film the ninth episode of the series' season 4, which is scheduled to air on Nov. 18. However, it wasn't clear if the production will temporarily write out Juliette or delay filming and wait for the actress' return.
