Today, as part of Maternal Mental Health Week, I shared my postnatal depression (PND) story with Isabella & Us. I touched on why I’m so mindful of my mental health and my experiences of talk therapy, as well as various coping mechanisms, which haven’t always been healthy.
Jonathan and I knew that becoming parents was going to be a challenge, but we hadn’t quite appreciated just how anxious and fragile I was during and after pregnancy, and together we’ve had to overcome many hurdles.
Feelings of not being good enough, having no grip on reality and being unable to control my emotions left me in a dark place. But talk therapy brought me back from damaging thinking patterns and taught me the importance of self-care. Opening up has helped me to stay afloat, it’s nurtured my body and mind, and offered me the tools to support myself.
I’m no expert, but I’m passionate about delivering the message that it’s okay not to be okay. There’s always a way through. And curiously PND was both a blessing and a curse and the process of overcoming depression healed me in ways I never thought possible.
I was nervous about sharing my experience of PND but it’s been helpful to look back on the last four years. Talking is therapy, and writing and sharing can be therapy too!
Read more about my experience of and recovery from PND on the Isabella & Us blog.
Love,
Sarah x
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