{"id":316959,"date":"2026-03-07T02:28:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-07T02:28:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/316959\/"},"modified":"2026-03-07T02:28:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-07T02:28:09","slug":"melyssa-ford-reveals-the-unexpected-remedy-that-helped-her-cope-with-her-mothers-death-the-root","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/316959\/","title":{"rendered":"Melyssa Ford Reveals the Unexpected Remedy That Helped Her Cope With Her Mother\u2019s Death \u2013 The Root"},"content":{"rendered":"

For some Black women<\/a>, the hesitation to embrace antidepressants isn\u2019t just about side effects\u2014 it\u2019s about a deeply rooted fear of losing oneself to a pill. Former video vixen Melyssa Ford admitted she felt that weight intimately following her mother\u2019s death and was \u201ctoo scared\u201d to try clinical prescriptions despite the crushing symptoms of her depression.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m battling Depression. Crushing, malignant Depression,\u201d the model admitted in an Instagram post<\/a> in September 2018. That vulnerable confession came two years before her beloved mother, Oksana Barbara Raisa Ford, died from colon cancer in May 2020.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday\u2019s episode of \u201cLovers by Shan<\/a>,\u201d Ford detailed being \u201cdiagnosed with major depressive disorder\u201d after her mother\u2019s death. She added, \u201cIt was like a meteor hit my world, my earth.\u201d<\/p>\n

Paralyzed by a deep-seated fear of traditional antidepressants, Ford initially bypassed clinical prescriptions. It wasn\u2019t until 2022 that she discovered an alternative lifeline: microdosing psilocybin, the practice<\/a> of taking incredibly small, sub-hallucinogenic doses of \u201cmagic mushrooms\u201d to help improve mood and mental health.<\/p>\n

\u201cA couple of friends talked to me about microdosing, and I was a little intimidated by it, but I started doing that with therapy, and that really worked,\u201d Ford recalled. The podcaster added that with \u201cintense therapy,\u201d her \u201csense of dignity grew.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ford continued: \u201cIt was when my dignity was challenged that I realized how important it was and how fiercely I need to guard it, because in dignity you find self-love.\u201d The former \u201cJoe Budden Podcast\u201d cohost isn\u2019t the only Black woman who has opted for alternative help for depression.<\/p>\n

Singer Keri Hilson, who\u00a0has been open about dealing with depression at the height of her career, described her experience with shrooms on the\u00a0\u201cAngie Martinez IRL<\/a>\u201d\u00a0podcast in October.<\/p>\n

\u201cI met a doctor who assisted me with shrooms, medicinal-grade shrooms, psychedelics. I can say without a doubt that I did like two macro doses,\u201d Hilson said. \u201cI was very, very nervous, but then I learned that there are retreats all around the world for shrooms being used medicinally as a healing modality, and all I can say is it worked for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Straight From \"The<\/p>\n

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