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Antenatal/postnatal depression

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Am I going backwards in my recovery?

3 replies

poochie9 · 02/04/2023 23:09

It’s been a while since I posted publicly on here. After I had my little girl and suffered with the most horrific PND/ocd i spent hours on this website looking for some glimmer of hope. A story that related to me, that let me know that everything was going to be alright.
After some really bleak, dark and scary months and with lots of support from the perinatal mental health team and medication, I started to feel better. I had more good days, then more food weeks. I was coping and I started fo feel like I was actually living again.

then this last week happened and I feel like I have taken a million steps backwards in my recovery. I don’t know if it’s the broken sleep and conversations about returning to work, but things are starting to feel bleak again. My mind has been racing, I’ve started to loose motivation - not as badly as before, but definitely less than previous weeks where I’d felt better. I can’t even pin point what it is that’s made me feel like this. I just know that I’m tired, my brain feels so noisy and I’m bloody petrified of going back to the place I was In mentally a few months ago. I really thought I’d turned a corner. I hope this is just a blip but the fact that I’m back on here, searching for similar threads on pnd again, makes me feel like it could be something more.

i knew recovery wasn’t going to be easy. I’m just surprised that I was doing so well and now I’m struggling again.

i picked up on the pnd very early and my little girl was very much still in the newborn phase when I was at mt worst, which meant I could hide how badly I was really feeling from her. She was unaware. At nearly 6 and a half months now she’s so switched on, she takes everything in and I just don’t want to go to pieces. I’m trying to be strong for her but I am worried about what’s going to happen and if I’ll ever really escape from this fully

has anyone here experienced a similar set back in their own recovery from this shitty illness?

OP posts:
Fortboyard · 02/04/2023 23:38

I’ve not experienced this myself but a friend of mine had pnd. Her recovery was sometimes wobbly but she got there in the end. I would think it’s pretty normal for it to be up and down from time to time. Hang on in there, be patient and have faith it will get better. Hopefully someone with direct experience will be along with more advice for you soon.

doverdiva · 03/04/2023 00:28

I definitely had this. Recovery was like an arrow going in an upwards direction over many months but it had ups and downs.

What worked was taking the downs as a sign from my mind that I needed to be gentler on myself.

I did less. Some days just getting out of the house for a 10 minute walk was enough of a goal.

Your daughter loves you unconditionally. Just being there to cuddle her when she cries and feed her when she is hungry is what she needs most from you.

Don't feel like you need to be strong or you're letting her down. You've been dealt a shitty hand with PND and like any illness what matters is doing what you need today to get through it. Go easy on yourself.

poochie9 · 03/04/2023 13:59

Thank you for replying.
i know I need to be more gentle with myself buts it’s so hard, I feel an immense pressure to get well quickly so I can be the best mum to my little girl.
it’s so hard when you’re having a dip or a bad week, it’s like I forget there’s a way out of this dark hole again 😢

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