Gwen Stefani Shares Reason For Current Depression: Why Blake Shelton’s Love Can’t Make Her Feel Better

Right now, Gwen Stefani might seem on top of the world to most of her fans — country singer Blake Shelton is absolutely crazy about her, and Gwen’s new album — which just so happens to be loaded with songs inspired by her cowboy boyfriend — is selling extremely well. However, Gwen recently admitted to feeling depressed in the midst of all this love and success.

There’s no doubt that Gwen Stefani was devastated after her marriage to her husband of 13 years, alt-rocker Gavin Rossdale, fell apart last year. However, Gwen isn’t feeling down and out because she suddenly started missing her ex, and there’s plenty of evidence that she’s already over Gavin — the Queen of the Tragic Kingdom is in such a good place relationship-wise that her new album, This Is What the Truth Feels Like, is actually loaded with upbeat and optimistic tunes about blossoming romance instead of sad and bitter breakup songs like “Don’t Speak” and “Ex-Girlfriend.”

#ThisIsWhatTheTruthFeelsLike is out now! Get 4 bonus tracks only at @Target https://t.co/bSMEvC6Led pic.twitter.com/fIVyI2gVi4

— Gwen Stefani (@gwenstefani) March 18, 2016

Gwen Stefani’s split from Gavin Rossdale might be one of the best things that ever happened to her when it comes to her love life and her music career, but the joy she feels whenever she hangs out with Blake Shelton or hears “Make Me Like You” on the radio can always be brought down a few notches by the painful realization that she’s being forced to miss out on so much of her sons’ lives. During an interview with the Daily Telegraph, Gwen Stefani revealed that she’s struggling to come to terms with a joint custody agreement that will impact her family for many years to come.

“Now is really crazy with the kids because I have them half the time,” Gwen said.

“It’s depressing, but it’s also given me time to do creative things that I probably would have never done, like make this whole record.”

Gwen has been extremely busy promoting her new record, and all her hard work has paid off — This Is What the Truth Feels Like quickly jumped to the top of the iTunes album chart when it was released on March 18, and Gwen Stefani and Blake Shelton delighted their fans by taking to social media and celebrating its success together. But unfortunately for Gwen, being a divorced mom means that her success will always be tainted by a twinge of guilt. She feels terrible that making and promoting her album cost her some of her precious time with 2-year-old Apollo, 7-year-old Zuma, and 9-year-old Kingston.

“I got super-depressed a couple of days ago because I just felt trapped. It’s too much to have so many commitments when you’re a mom. You’re trying to do all those things plus feeling guilty and it’s too much, but somehow it always seems to work out.”

Because she’s a mom, Gwen Stefani also has to be careful about how much she says about her divorce from Gavin Rossdale. Shortly after Gwen and Gavin announced that they were getting a divorce, Us Weekly reported that Gwen had a very good reason for ditching the father of her three children: She discovered that Gavin had been cheating on her with the boys’ nanny for three years. Gwen has never confirmed that her husband had an affair, but she did tell the New York Times that the details of her divorce make for “a really good, juicy story.”

Gwen Stefani explained that she carefully chooses her words whenever she talks about her unfaithful ex for the sake of their sons. According to the “Make Me Like You” singer, she was also cautious about what she said about Gavin when she was working on the lyrics for her new songs.

“I was going through the craziest time. It’s impossible to explain how hard it was, to get into a room with people you don’t know—who don’t know your story—and you can’t say what’s going on. I needed to protect the children.”

Gwen Stefani said something similar during a recent interview with TIME, and she also made sure to make it crystal clear that she’s blameless when it comes to her divorce — she wasn’t making goo-goo eyes at Blake Shelton back when they first appeared together on season 7 of The Voice in 2014.

“I don’t feel like I have anything to be ashamed of,” Gwen revealed. “I’ve done nothing wrong. I don’t feel like I have anything to protect about myself. But when you’re a mother, you have to have some boundaries.”

Gwen Stefani told USA Today that she was blindsided by her romance with Blake Shelton, which began blossoming during season 9 of The Voice.

“It was like, whoa — I didn’t see that coming! All of a sudden, I got saved.”

Gwen Stefani’s life might not be as simple as she would like it to be, but at least she’s found a sweet escape from her divorce turmoil.

[Photo by Paul Hiffmeyer/Disneyland Resort via Getty Images]