She has beaten a gilded path to a toney, racially diverse New Jersey exurb. On her most taxing days, her biggest responsibilities used to be walking the family dog, administering his cataract eye drops, waiting for repairmen and picking up her young son from school.
From the outside looking in, the Howard University alumna was living a near-perfect life with two “cute, bright” kids and a “cute, bright,” supportive husband.
It was a wonderful veneer, but behind the beautiful smile, she was slowly descending into a deep, dark hole of depression.
“Initially I wasn’t even aware it was happening,” says Little. “I was drinking and shopping, doing those distractions. I would look around and see women enjoying it, but I wasn’t.”
Little’s latest book, a memoir, Welcome to My Breakdown, published in April by Atria books, chronicles her battle with severe depression. It was not her first brush with it, but this bout was pernicious, lasting close to a decade, and was exacerbated by the failing health and ultimate passing of her mother.
“My mother was really incredible. I miss her as a person not just as my mom,” says Little. “She was someone who loved me. I wouldn’t have hit that low because I would have had my mother to talk to.”
