I will never forget the relief I felt the first time someone looked at me and said “Miranda, you’re depressed. This is depression.” In that moment, my moods, the sadness, anger, rage, all of it, had a place. Slowly, with therapy, dedication to getting better, and through the twists of fate which started me on…
Mental Health
Climb Out Of the Darkness 2014
It’s time to Climb Out of the Darkness in Atlanta, y’all. 1 in 7 mothers will suffer from a perinatal mood and anxiety disorder. And that’s only the number of moms who actually seek help. Because of the stigma associated with mental illness, and with postpartum mental illness in particular, and because of the lack…
May Has Been a Dirty Whore
May has been a dirty whore, and I don’t mean a person named May, I mean the month. It’s been a timesuck of anxiety and stress for no reason other than just because, which isn’t really a reason at all in case you were curious. It started out great. I was high off of Listen To Your…
Breastfeeding and Anxiety
Thank you for all of the support last week when I wrote about finally making the call to a therapist for help in dealing with my anxiety. It was a really tough call to make, but I know it was the right call. I think the right calls are usually the tough ones, you know?…
Where’s Your Head At? Alternate Title: Tough Calls
This is a tough post to write, but because I believe in being honest, I can’t not write it. And it’ll be choppy and vague in parts and I’ll do my best to explain as much as I can but some of this just isn’t my story to tell, so fill in the blanks, I…
I Am A Face Of Mental Illness
I have a personal rule against watching the news. It fuels my anxiety and since I don’t actually like feeling anxious I avoid all things which cause me anxiety whenever I reasonably can. So the news is on my Do Not Watch list. It’s one of the only things on that list, because hey, watching TV…
I Didn’t Know Him, But His Life Mattered
Tuesday was World Suicide Prevention Day. All this week, I’ve thought about him. How his life mattered to me. How his death forever changed me. I kept his memory close this week not sure I could find the words to say that I hadn’t said already. And then I talked to my mom this morning and…
No More Bootstraps
I saw a meme floating around Facebook this morning that sort of gut-punched me. It said “Pretending to be happy when you’re in pain is just an example of how strong you are as a person.” People. I’m about to get a little ranty. Hold on to your hats. As someone who has battled both…
Strong Start Day for Postpartum Progress
Did you know that the internet helped save my life? Because it did. I’m thankful to the PA I saw for most of my pregnancy and whom I saw after Joshua was here. She knew about postpartum depression. She understood postpartum anxiety. She knew that my inappropriate response to meatloaf wasn’t normal and put a…
Cracks in the armor
There are cracks in my Mama armor right now. Some of the cracks are smaller than others, but they are all cracks just the same. They are brought on by night after night of not enough sleep. From having no down-time to decompress. By meeting the demands of a needy 3 year old, and good…