Do I wish I had never endured postpartum depression? Absolutely. But to deny the experience is to deny who I am.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
Postpartum depression is a very real and very serious problem for many mothers. It can happen to a first time mom or a veteran mother. It can occur a few days... or a few months after childbirth.
When you study postpartum depression, there is a very clear understanding that in communities where you see more support, there is less depression.
I deal with postpartum feelings by reaching out to mom friends. I became very close with some of the women in my prenatal yoga class.
I suffered from a mild case of postpartum depression after my second child and the physical challenge of maintaining an overnight shift at CBS, a marriage, and two in diapers made the symptoms worse and everyone in the house paid the price.
The only reason I've shared my story is to take that tiny baby step of breaking down the stigma attached to depression.
I always imagined that having a baby is something that I'm going to keep in a private place, but maybe my curse is that all I'm going to want to do is tell everybody about what my birth process was like and what my children's nightmares are.
When I diagnose my depression now, I think it was partially about saying goodbye to these kids that I always expected to have but already knew that I wouldn't.
I had no idea that mothering my own child would be so healing to my own sadness from my childhood.
My own life was filled with so much love and joy that when depression struck, it was like a prison door slamming shut and I was being placed in an isolation cell. No one else could possibly be feeling what I was. I hated my depression and all of its symptoms.
I am lucky in that I have never been depressed in my life, but this is the one thing which has really affected me: the loss of my mother as I knew her.