adelegraziaImage: Adele via Instagram

Adele is a notoriously private star, known for taking long periods away from the spotlight to enjoy as normal a life as a 10-time Grammy Award-winner can.

In an uncharacteristic moment of openness, the British singer has revealed her struggle with postnatal depression in an interview with Vanity Fair.

The 28-year-old gave birth to son Angelo in October 2012 during one of her prolonged hiatus’ from the music industry and said she spent the following months battling the condition, which is a type of clinical depression that affects new mothers.

“I had really bad postpartum depression after I had my son, and it frightened me,” she told Vanity Fair.

“My knowledge of [postnatal] is that you don’t want to be with your child; you’re worried you might hurt your child; you’re worried you weren’t doing a good job,” she said. “But I was obsessed with my child. I felt very inadequate; I felt like I’d made the worst decision of my life…It can come in many different forms.”

Adele, who has been with partner Simon Konecki for five years, aloso said she struggles with guilt like many working mothers.

“I’m enjoying touring, but at times I feel guilty because I’m doing this massive tour, and even though my son is with me all the time, on certain nights I can’t put him to bed,” she explained. “I never feel guilty when I’m not working. You’re constantly trying to make up for stuff when you’re a mum.

“I don’t mind, because of the love I feel for him…I don’t care if I don’t ever get to do anything for myself again.”

Having enough time to spend with her son is just one of the reasons a global tour of the scale of her current Adele Live shows, which she has been performing for 10 months, is unlikely to happen in the future. She also told Vanity Fair that she still suffers from stage fright and while she wanted to do live shows as a thanks to her fans that have supported her, she doesn’t necessarily enjoy being on stage.

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Image: Getty

“I’d still like to make records, but I’d be fine if I never heard [the applause] again. I’m on tour simply to see everyone who’s been so supportive. I don’t care about money. I’m British, and we don’t have that . . . thing of having to earn more money all the time. I don’t come from money; it’s not that important a part of my life.”

So if you want to see Adele live before she begins a potential decade-long break from the stage, you’d better get to North America for the final dates of her tour.