Maternal Anxiety
May 16, 2006 by kate baggott
Filed under Mental Health
As you know, I hate writing about postpartum depression. Sure, that’s where all the news clips are, but after posting five or six articles, they all start saying the same thing.
That said, my baby has started teething early and was awake from 4 to 6 this morning. I was drained and all I could think about was the deadline on the articles I’ve been assigned to write, the fact that the teething rings in the fridge aren’t working, the fact that my husband went shopping after work instead of getting home in time for our three year-old’s daily temper tantrum, and the fact that there is no teething gel in the house even though I asked my husband to buy some on Saturday. Baby teething, mommy seething.
And then, I got up to get son ready for his official nursery school photoshoot combined with the normal rush and I had the worst anxiety attack. Heart racing, shaking, feeling my voice quiver.
According to all the articles, postpartum depression can start anytime in the first year after giving birth and the first line of defense against it is sleep. I have a lot to do and I hate letting readers of this blog down, but I have got to get myself back to bed. Sorry.
Honey, get some rest and screw the blog!!!
I’ve worked with many moms who’ve experienced postpartum depression. Interestingly enough, the research doesn’t support that all moms who experience this dreadful mental health (or is it more hormonal?) condition suffer from anxiety. However, having said that many do – between 60-70% experience mild to extreme anxiety symptoms. One interesting thing is I have found in offering anxiety help is that the anxiety can be a “stand alone” issue. Two examples… one lady recalls early childhood trauma and simply having an infant in her presence triggered her symptoms. Another mom simply struggled with the dread that she wasn’t a good enough mom. Actually, she was incredible, she just needed my caring attention to give herself credit for doing so many things well.
She only kept track of what she did wrong.
My wife was experiencing postpartum depression (crying a lot and panicky) and ended up getting phone counseling from this website. After two sessions she connected it to the way her mom lost her own life after having kids. Once she realized what was going on, she got a lot better.