The treatment, which approximated brain death, was being tested to see if it could cure depression. So in March 2017, Armstrong enrolled herself in a clinical trial at the University of Utah’s Neuropsychiatric Institute, where she was put in a chemically induced coma for 15 minutes at a time for 10 sessions. The unraveling of her marriage - coupled with the incessant, crushing hate she endured - contributed to a deep, treatment-resistant depression. She was suddenly a fallen internet star whose mental health was eroding. She split with her husband, Jon, who was also her business partner, and even her most loyal fans were furious. It wasn’t just that blogging was becoming less and less of a viable business.
The New York Times Magazine crowned her the “queen of the mommy bloggers.”īut in 2012, Armstrong’s fortunes changed. In the summer of 2009, Forbes named Armstrong one of its 30 most influential women in media, alongside Oprah, Arianna Huffington, and Tyra Banks. At its peak, just after Armstrong appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show in 2009, Dooce had a monthly 8.5 million readers, and the blog was reportedly earning as much as $40,000 a month from banner ads. She built a lucrative business along the way. Rabid fans loved her, but she also attracted an army of haters, who flooded her with hostile comments and hate mail and even created digital forums dedicated to smearing her.
“I looked at myself as someone who happened to be able to talk about parenthood in a way many women wanted to be able to but were afraid to,” Armstrong, now 43, says.
Dooce also extensively covered mental health, with Armstrong chronicling her ongoing struggle with depression. She opened up about the unspeakable, like which parts of parenthood she despised and why she had left the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (commonly known as the Mormon Church).
It amassed a cult following for its sharp, witty, and unapologetic look at motherhood’s tribulations, from breastfeeding and diaper changing to the mountains of homework and carpool runs. It wasn’t long ago that millions of people knew every detail of Heather Armstrong’s life.Īrmstrong rose to fame after she started the blog in 2001.
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