in Mamas with depression, anxiety, and other mental health disorders

How did you know you had PPD?

What were your signs of PPD? I’m really struggling mentally but not sure what’s happening. I had really bad “baby blues” which have come and gone several times throughout the postpartum period (baby is now 8 months old). My stress and anxiety levels have been really high for the last few months as sleep deprivation has been at an all time high. I experience really bad rage sometimes through the night which causes me to hit myself in order to cope and release that strong emotion of anger. Sometimes, when experiencing too much overwhelm (after arguing with my partner about something for example), my mind goes to a very dark place. I have cut myself twice to cope with the overwhelming emotions and in the moment, I genuinely think my partner and daughter would be better off without me, that I’m a failure as a mother and as a partner. Previous to having a baby I struggled with OCD and anxiety but I finally got to a place where I managed so well and was able to regulate myself emotionally. I am at a loss right now. I feel like a total failure. Thanks for reading.

Show your support

A lot of these could be unresolved trauma (childhood or even inherited) and plus all of your body changes. One thing to remember is that ppd comes in different forms and degrees. I had ppd, but every doctor said I did not and that it will pass, etc. because they only base it on if you passed the ppd risk test. If you're not well, you know yourself best, and only you can truly give yourself the power to heal, so I'm so glad that you're asking. Sometimes acknowledgeing/accepting helps our mind to ease into next steps. Try to rest your mind whenever you can, eat lots of yellow color foods (oranges, pineapple, etc) and consider deeper healing to uncover and clear what's truly the underlying causes (something you can't achieve by treating symptoms or temporary relief, such as therapy or medication. Happy to answer questions if you want to DM me.)

It took me until 2 weeks before my daughter’s first birthday to seek out help from my health visitor at my daughter’s 12 month check up. As soon as she asked how I was I just broke down into tears and we went through an assessment sheet which said I have high anxiety and middle level depression. We realised a lot of it came from my childhood and my daughter being born early and everything that happened after that has caused it to emerge and make itself present. They do also say it takes 2 years to feel ‘normal’ and hormones to completely go back to normal but obviously you know yourself better than anyone else and it’s best to reach out for help than suffer in silence x

Hello message me and I can help you 🙏 you will get through this it's only temporary 💙

‌

‌
‌

‌

‌
‌

‌

‌
‌

‌

‌
‌

‌

‌
‌

‌

‌
‌