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Hayden Panettiere Says Wladimir Klitschko Believed She Was Responsible for Postpartum Depression

Wladimir Klitschko and Hayden Panettiere attend The Daily Front Row and Faena Art Celebrate the Launch of The Daily's Miami Edition, Featuring Act One at The Faena Art Dome on November 29, 2016 in Miami Beach, FL
Wladimir Klitschko and Hayden Panettiere attend The Daily Front Row and Faena Art Celebrate the Launch of The Daily's Miami Edition, Featuring Act One at The Faena Art Dome on November 29, 2016 in Miami Beach, FL

Sean Zanni/Patrick McMullan via Getty Wladimir Klitschko and Hayden Panettiere in 2016

Hayden Panettiere is opening up about her experience with postpartum depression.

During this week's episode of Facebook Watch's Red Table Talk, the actress speaks candidly with co-hosts Jada Pinkett SmithAdrienne Banfield Norris and guest host Kelly Osbourne about her condition and whether her ex Wladimir Klitschko recognized her struggles.

In the early weeks after giving birth to their daughter Kaya, now 7, Panettiere began to experience postpartum depression — a condition which she says was "not something that people understood or talked about."

Asked if Klitschko recognized what was going on with the actress at the time, Panettiere, 33, explains that the Ukrainian former professional boxer had a very different "mentality" than she did.

"I respect him for being such a driven human being, he's very positive. Athletes, they're just very driven. That mentality is just pretty incredible," she says. "But he's also a man that doesn't have any sisters. So he really thought that I was doing it to myself and just that I could choose to snap out of [the postpartum depression]."

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RELATED: Hayden Panettiere Says Relinquishing Custody of Daughter Was the 'Most Heartbreaking Thing'

"When he signs his emails it says 'when you control your mind, you control everything.' I look at it all the time and I'm like, 'That's not true!' " she continues.

Speaking about her depression, Panettiere says she "didn't know how to ask for help," which is when she turned to alcohol.

"I did what I had seen family and people around me do whenever they were depressed or stressed out or anything, which was reach for a bottle," she says.

Hayden Panettiere bravely opens up about years of alcohol abuse, crippling postpartum depression, and, for the first time, reveals her truth about giving up custody of her only child. Special guest host and first time mom-to-be Kelly Osbourne joins the Table with a life-changing update about her addiction recovery and pregnancy journey.
Hayden Panettiere bravely opens up about years of alcohol abuse, crippling postpartum depression, and, for the first time, reveals her truth about giving up custody of her only child. Special guest host and first time mom-to-be Kelly Osbourne joins the Table with a life-changing update about her addiction recovery and pregnancy journey.

Red Table Talk @Angela Andaloro

When Kaya was 4 months old, Panettiere entered treatment for substance abuse for the first time.

Elsewhere in the episode, the Nashville star speaks about the "very upsetting" experience of relinquishing custody of her only child to Klitschko.

"At first it was not because it wasn't a discussion," the actress explains of giving up custody. "If [Klitschko] had come to me and said I think because of where you're at right now and your struggles that you're having it would be good for her to be over here with me for a while — which if I had probably had enough of a conversation I would've said okay that makes sense, I get it, I'll come there to visit and stuff like that."

"Because of the way that it was done, it was very upsetting," she says. "I mean, it was the worst signing those papers, the most heartbreaking thing I've ever, ever had to do in my life."

The Facebook Watch original series Red Table Talk airs Wednesdays at 9 a.m. PT/12 p.m. ET. New episodes stream weekly.