Being a mother is most rewarding life experience I’ve ever had, but it didn’t start out so great.
When my firstborn was about eight months old, I became extremely depressed, to the point where I had occasional psychotic episodes. It was a very dark time for our family, and I felt that if I told anyone but my husband what I’d been feeling that my son would be taken from me or I’d be locked up. So I kept quiet and muddled through. It was really, really hard.
When I was hit with postpartum depression again when my second son was about ten months old, this time with inexplicable rage, I knew I could no longer suffer in silence. I couldn’t live like that. And I didn’t want my kids to remember me like that. So I finally asked for help.
After trying a few different types of treatment, medication was what saved my life, and subsequently my relationship with my family. I have made it part of my life’s mission to make sure that other moms know that it’s okay to ask for help; had I done it sooner, the three years that I suffered would look very differently. Don’t wait it out. Talk to someone. You are not alone and you will get through this.
Robin
We’re In This Together is a photography series, coordinated in partnership with the Pacific Post Partum Support Society and the Good Mother Project, that offers messages of encouragement, hope, support and love to new parents.
For more information on how you can share your message, please visit: http://goodmotherproject.com/were-in-this-together
