“After my mom died, my stepdad simply left. Survival mode kicked in. For the next 3 years, my 19-year-old brother did whatever he could to help. Being strong was truly my only choice.”
‘People kept saying, ‘You’re so strong.’ On the inside I was yelling, ‘Not strong enough to bring my mom back!’: Woman shares grief of losing mom as teen
‘My psychiatrist said, ‘Technically, you’re on the highest dose I can legally prescribe you…’ At 8, I’d had my first panic attack. I didn’t want to live life this way anymore.’: Young woman details journey with anxiety
“I walked out of the office and something just clicked. I didn’t want to live my life this way anymore. The racing heart, nausea, paralyzing fear, uncontrollable shaking. I knew in my heart there had to be some other option.”
‘I was not okay. I had lost my child to death, and I was losing myself to life.’: Mom’s powerful vow to ‘claw her way out’ of ‘the darkness’ after sudden loss of 7-month-old son
“I spent far too many moments considering all the ways I could be with my son, in whatever afterlife he exists in. I even shut my own husband out. I was done living like this. I vowed to do better. I don’t know how strong I can stay. I am fragile. But I do know, I am trying.”
‘I had never been aware of the world of anti-depressants. How can you be THAT sad? I didn’t get it. Then my 2-year-old was diagnosed with Stage 4 Lymphoma.’
“It was then that I understood depression. I was completely overwhelmed. I was getting frustrated with my daughter who couldn’t help or control anything she was doing or what was happening to her. I felt crazy.”
‘I was an emotional blob who couldn’t peel myself off my couch’: After miscarriages, postpartum depression, mom loses 100 pounds ‘not for wife me, not mom me, but ME’
“During my depression, at its worst, I was sure I would be on an episode of ‘My 600-lb Life’ by the time I was 35. I am so glad I made a U-Turn in the right direction and I have made the changes to be a better me, wife, and mother.”
‘8 months before this picture was taken, at the recommendation of my gynecologist, I went off Zoloft for the first time in a decade.’
“‘It’s better if you just get off of it,’ he said to me, without ever asking if I thought that would be the right choice for my personal situation. Wanting to start off on the right foot as a mother, I was obedient and followed his instructions without question. What I didn’t know, however, was there were other options.”
