“Ugh. She’s blogging about that again?!”
I don’t know, sometimes I worry that this is the reaction I’ll get when I write about postpartum and perinatal anxiety on here. I worry for a second, and then I remember how many women have reached out to me since 2011 to say that they had no idea they were dealing with this until they read what I wrote. I would say, on average, at least one a week- some weeks are much more than that.
So yeah, I’m writing about it again.
Mostly, I’m writing to tell you to read this Huffington Post piece I was interviewed for- “Postpartum Anxiety Might Be Even More Common Than PPD.” But also, I want to add a little more to what you’ll read in that article.
- I’m currently NOT being treated for anxiety, though I started my pregnancy on Lexapro. I wound up weaning off of it about a month in because I worried it was causing me to feel depressed. I’ve been doing pretty well without it so far, but I do have a prescription filled and ready to go if I feel like I need it. Clarifying this because at the beginning of my pregnancy a few of you asked if I was still on medication and I said yes because I was at the time.
- If you recognize this in yourself, put a call into your OB/midwife or a family doctor. This is also a great list of support groups from Postpartum Progress. PP is also a tremendous resource. Follow them, read them, they even have a private forum you can join.
- Talk about it. Talk with your friends about it. The thing about this information is it’s here on the internet. It’s on blogs and on Facebook. If the internet isn’t a place you immerse yourself frequently, if your mom and and your aunts are who you’re counting on for mothering advice (and there’s nothing wrong with that), you’re likely not going to know about it. Make this a topic of conversation at moms groups, and with childhood friends over coffee. Talk, don’t just share on social media.