One of the very troubling struggles with having postpartum depression or any other "invisible" type of illness is that those who have not experienced it can never really understand it.
For those women who are super achievers, or have been the "caretaker" of the family, it makes it just that much harder for others to see that we just can't do it anymore. We still care-take and wear the mask of superwomen to protect our husbands, children, and other family members from their own pain of watching us in pain. We try to be strong for them, and end up moving backwards in our recovery.
We are embarrassed that we have to remind them about what we are going through. We don't want to voice the struggle we go through daily to just cope with every minute we are awake. They just want everything to be as it was. They get grumpy, angry, stay in denial or withdraw emotionally when we don't heal as fast as they think we should.
What is the solution?
Take Care of Ourselves First- despite the discomfort of everyone else.
Communicate: Let our spouse and family members know the truth of how we are feeling.
Stop Being a Hero. We can't be there for everyone else if we fall into the abyss.
No comments:
Post a Comment