I speak for those who have no voice and who suffer from an invisible illness. Moms who suffer from postpartum mood disorders suffer in silence and shame. I was one of those moms a year ago. I felt like no one could understand what I was going through. I thought that I was going crazy. I could not control my emotions at all.
I speak for my friends online who are struggling, who feel like they cannot go on. You feel like you will be always be drowning and stuck in the mire of their mental illness. That is the illness telling you lies. You feel like you are not a good mom. Depression feeds on the doubt. See yourself as we see you, a wonderful friend who helps another mom even when you are struggling.
One day, the gray and the fog will lift. You will notice the blueness of the sky, the thousand watt smile of your child, and the breeze on your face. The world is out there waiting for you, my friend. Keep reaching out. Keep asking for help. Do not quit on us because we are not quitting on you. We love you, and we are extending our hand to help you out of the muck.
Remember that using the hashtag #ppdchat on Twitter gets you an army of hope and love. The women on that hashtag are some of the bravest women I have yet to have the honor of meeting in person.
Such a great reminder of why we’re here. It becomes discouraging amongst the hundreds of other bloggers who get comment after comment because they posted a picture of their cat but we are here for a different reason. We are here to bring awareness, to support, and to encourage.
I think it makes people feel uncomfortable at times. We are talking about something that people do not talk about a lot. If they do, it’s in hushed whispers. I do not want another mom to feel alone in their suffering. This PPD blogging community is so wonderful and welcoming. I have gotten so much support and love, and blogging is one of the ways I pay it forward.
Thank you for this.
You are welcome Laura. Xoxo
What a wonderful and heart-warming post… Thank-you! This community of mums is so very special and it’s an environment of support we most definitely need during our respective recoveries.
I credit the online community for helping accelerate my recovery. There are moms worldwide who are going through the same struggles. It is such a relief to realize that you are not alone in this.
Beautiful reminder, beautifully expressed. Thank you for being one of those hands reaching out to pull another mama out of the muck.
Thank you so much Margaret for being one of the hands to help pull me out of the muck.
I’m always sharing the twitter hashtags with new Moms that I know, because I’ve NEVER seen a group quite like you all. The world is blessed to have you all speaking out on such an important topic!
Thank you so much Jenn for all your support. I want all my friends IRL that aren’t on Twitter to get an account. Now I need to speak up more about my experiences. I talked to a mom friend about how we always paint motherhood as so wonderful. It is, but it’s also incredibly difficult. We do ourselves a disservice by not acknowledging the good and the bad of motherhood.
Thank you for this post. I’m suffering right now from depression right and just reading your post gave me some hope. It’s so hard to parent when you feel so alone each day. It’s hard to keep a toddler busy when all ii want to do is crawl under a rock. It’s hard to breathe even some days.
Huge hugs. I am so glad that my post gave you some hope. I received some wonderful advice from the lovely Lauren Hale at http://mypostpartumvoice.com about depression. You are not alone. It is not your fault. You will get better.
I understand how isolating the depression can be. It felt like a lead blanket on me. That heaviness weighs on you physically, mentally and emotionally. I try to come up with a list of three things each day that I am grateful for. It inspired me to keep fighting, even on my toughest days. When you find those glimmers of hope, hold on to them tightly.
And also my mantra – THIS IS NOT FOREVER xoxo
And I have NO idea why that lovely image has chosen to be my gravatar
)
I love your mantra. xoxoxo
You. Are. Awesome.
That is all.
Aw, thank you. I am blushing.
What you said, ‘Moms who suffer from postpartum mood disorders suffer in silence and shame’, makes me want to jump into the screen & squishy hug you. That is all.
Yuz,
I cannot believe I forgot reply to this comment. I want to squishy hug you too in person. I suffered for way too long in silenece and shame even though there was that little voice in my head saying something is not right.
Love you mamita
Sending you so much love. Xoxo mamita
nice post to spread the word that you are not alone to those moms who need a boost
Thank you so much Kathy. I read so many of the fellow warrior moms’ blogs, and I would cry with tears or relief to know that I was not alone.
Yes. Agreed. What bigger honor is there??? Voice to the voiceless, hope to the hopeless, a shore we help they picture. You can do it. We did.
xo
Thank you so much. There is no greater honor than to help a friend. I received so much love and support. I feel compelled to speak out and help in any way that I can. Speaking out about my experiences helps lessen the stigma around mental illness.
Sorry: should say, “A shore we help them picture.” xo
Yes. Just yes.
Tracie, thank you so much. I am so glad that this resonated with you.
Hi. I just found your blog. I am a two-time survivor of ppd and anxiety. I was so convinced that it wouldn’t “get” me a second time but it did. Because I knew what it was, I was able to get help so much faster the second time. My beautiful daughter is 14 months now and I am completely whole again. I’m not ready to write about it yet but it’s a story that I know I have to tell to help others.
I am so glad that you found my blog. I love to hear the recovery stories. It makes a huge difference when you know what you are dealing with, doesn’t it? It warms my heart to hear you say that you are “completely whole again”. Whenever you feel ready to tell your story, know that there is an amazing community who will support you in telling your story. I started my blog because of the amazing moms who suffered through PPD and blogged about it.