Sharna Burgess Recalls Having 'Dark Thoughts' After Giving Birth to Son Zane (Exclusive)

Sharna Burgess is opening up about the reason why she felt it was necessary to share she was having "super dark thoughts" following the birth of her and Brian Austin Green's son, Zane.

The former Dancing With the Stars pro spoke to ET's Denny Directo and went into detail about her Instagram post from last week, in which she's seen holding baby Zane while in the caption revealing that "intrusive mom thoughts" crept into her mind. The "super dark thoughts," she said, are "all the things that could go wrong."

In the caption, Burgess explained "all the ways I or life could accidentally hurt my baby. Falling down stairs holding him, sickness, a car accident." The list goes on, she added, but she's since "learned to tame" those thoughts. Now, Burgess tells ET why she wasn't afraid to be vulnerable on social media. 

"I felt called to share that because I went through the experience of thinking, 'Is it just me? Is it just me that has these [thoughts?] Is there something wrong with my brain? Am I heading into postpartum depression?'" Burgess said. "I would ask, 'Is this normal?' and I did get assured by my family, by [Brian] that these sort of thoughts are normal."

That being said, Burgess said she sought help when those "dark thoughts" suddenly involved Green and her mom. 

"I got to a point where I was having thoughts of Brian not making it home from work or my mom not making it back to her house from leaving our house," she added. "And I had one panic attack and that's when I went, 'I absolutely need to see someone about this because it's escalating."

The couple has since partnered with Movember's Mental Health Campaign, which offers 24/7 free and confidential support to those who dial 988. Since partnering with Movember, the 37-year-old said she realized she's not alone.

"I realized that every mom goes through this in some degree and then I also read that 94 percent of people -- men and women -- have intrusive thoughts," Burgess explained. "It's a real term, intrusive thoughts, and whether that is you don't deserve that job or to the way more dramatic end, more violent versions of those thoughts, everybody needs to understand they're not alone. That these things are not singular. It is not just you in your own world of horrible thoughts. These are people experiencing the same thing."

With Movember, Burgess and Green want to underscore the point that there's a community out there ready to welcome you and eager to help.

"It was a huge deal for me to know that I was not alone," Burgess said. "And I think for people -- especially on Instagram, this picture-perfect look of motherhood and parenting -- it's refreshing to know it's not what it looks like. These are common struggles."

The couple also opened up to ET about the sudden death of their close friend, Stephen "tWitch" Boss.

"We're holding up," Burgess said of how she's coping with the loss of her friend and fellow dancer. "It's a really sad loss."

"I'm hoping that it can be used as a reminder to people that life is precious," Green added. "It's best to just continue to reach out to the people that you love, and try and as much as possible to help them feel like speaking and being around you is a safe space."

For 24/7 free and confidential support, please call 988 to access the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline in the U.S. To learn more about how to talk with others or how you can support mental health, go to movember.com/mentalhealth.

RELATED CONTENT:

Sharna Burgess and Brian Austin Green Remember Stephen 'tWitch' Boss

Sharna Burgess Celebrates Becoming a U.S. Citizen: 'I Belong Here'

Sharna Burgess and Brian Austin Green Celebrate 3 Months with Baby Zan

Related Gallery