Ellie Goulding says nature saved her after post-natal depression

The Love Me Like You Do hitmaker has revealed she 'would start to feel some life come back to me' after going for walks in the countryside
Ellie Goulding guest edited Radio 4's Today programme (Ian West/PA)
PA Wire
Jacob Phillips28 December 2023

Ellie Goulding has said nature saved her as she struggled with post-natal depression after her son was born in 2021.

The Love Me Like You Do hitmaker has revealed she “would start to feel some life come back to me” after going for walks in the countryside.

The singer told Radio 4’s Today programme that it helped “the numbness ease off”.

Goulding, who was guest editing the BBC show, explained that the only other thing that would help her depression was a big cuddle with her son.

The UN global environment ambassador "desperately researched" post-natal depression as "I felt I was losing my mind".

To help cope with post-natal depression the star would put on her boots and a big coat “even if it was just over my pyjamas” and would walk out into nature.

Goulding explained she had suffered from anxiety since her childhood, attributing some of her worries to her parents divorcing when she was five and overhearing them discussing money.

The singer said: "I've always been an anxious person. When I walk into a room of people, I start panicking like someone's about to kill me, which of course, they're not! But my body is telling me I'm in danger."

Goulding is one of seven prominent figures to guest edit the Today programme over the festive period. The series is running from Saturday December 23 to Monday January 1.

Andrew Malkinson, who wrongly spent 17 years in prison for a rape he did not commit, will guest edit the programme on Friday.

Mr Malkinson will explore the psychological impacts of wrongful detention, the barriers to education in prison and how his passion for science and astronomy helped him while he was incarcerated.

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