Postnatal Anxiety

[Petal22]

I wanted to start this thread to bring awareness to postnatal anxiety.

I think its important for people to be aware that sometimes after giving birth and during pregnancy postnatal anxiety can be experienced by the mother or father.

I have a lived experience of postnatal anxiety, in my experience I experienced this condition after both of my pregnancies, the second pregnancy was more sever than the first.

Below I've listed some of the things I experienced while going through this condition :

I always felt on edge.

I didn't feel comfortable allowing the baby to be out of my sight.

I found it hard to allow others to hold my baby.

I was highly anxious when we were both out of the house in public.

I had a fear of going out with my babies or leaving them with anyone else.

I was highly anxious about people coming into the house while baby was sleeping ( incase they woke up the baby).

This condition was extremely difficult to go through with a new born who I loved and cared for very much, because I felt I just couldn't relax and enjoy the time we had together because I was constantly in fear and flight mode, it was an exhausting stressful condition to have especially while caring for a baby.

This anxiety is intense and it can creep up on you, the first step towards recovery is seeking help from a professional.. a good place to start is at your gp you can do a mental health plan together this will allow you to see a psychologist.

In some areas there are perinatal clinics that specialise in these types of conditions a clinical psychologist and a phyciatrist sometimes run out of the same clinic.

I seeked professional help for what I experienced and recovered.

If you are reading this and feel that you may be suffering with this condition or know someone who may be I encourage you to seek professional help and if you know some one who may be experiencing this condition encourage them to seek professional help.

Life really can get a lot better once professional help is received.

Your not alone, please ask me anything if you have any questions .

[white knight]

Hi Petal

I dont have an answer here but as you didnt receive a reply I am posting so the thread goes back to the top of the list and hopefully will get a reply from there. All the best

TonyWK

[JayHasit]

I just started a new thread as my first ever post here wondering if there was one for post natal anxiety.

reading your post helped me this evening.

Im sorry for the struggle you went through that sounds really difficult.

can I ask how you got through?

My second is 5 months old and EBF (refusing the bottle) so I rarely get a break. Im finding my PNA so much more severe this time as well.

My symptoms are hard to manage yet I’ve had 5+ years of therapy and otherwise cope quite well. I’ve never taken medication before but am for the first time considering it.

how did you make it through this time?

[Petal22]

Hi JayHasit,

Wellcome to our forums.

I just read your previous thread, Im so sorry you are going through this I understand how hard Postnatal Anxiety is to go through but I promise you that things will get better……. It just takes time.

Do you have a perinatal clinic in your area? At these clinics they specialise In perinatal conditions…..

My first pregnancy wasn’t as severe as my second…. With the first pregnancy I slowly began to recover without alot of therapy …. I did take antidepressants for my anxiety ….. which I believe helped.

My second pregnancy was so much more severe to the point where I was also diagnosed with parental OCD……. as well as postnatal anxiety…… both conditions where horrendous to endure while also looking after a young baby and my other child was in kindy at the time.

How did I get through? A lot of perseverance and professional help . I saw my gp when symptoms started and then my gp put me back on antidepressants and I was referred to a perinatal clinic where there was a clinical psychologist and a psychiatrist who specialised in postnatal conditions.

At the clinic I was diagnosed with severe anxiety and parental OCD by the psychiatrist .

Towards the end of my sessions I had there my condition wasn’t lifting…… I had parental OCD and OCD so from there I was referred to a clinic that specialised in OCD this is where I mastered my OCD.

With parental OCD I was having horrible intrusive thoughts about my children that absolutely terrified me and contributed to my postnatal anxiety.

It really was a marathon to endure but with hard work and determination I made it through to other side.

Please chat to me……. Your a great mum I know the days can seem long and hard but you will make it through……..

Please seek all of the professional help you need they are there to help us… I don’t know where I’d be today without their help.

I found joining a playgroup helpful just being with other mums I was still an anxious mess at these groups but some what found it a little better just by being with people.

Im sorry your baby isn’t taking the bottle I understand that would be hard.

[JayHasit]

Thankyou so much. Even reading the words ‘you’re a great mum’ brought me to tears.

im so sorry your struggle was so severe. I’m glad you got the help you needed.

im unsure about the perinatal places I’ll check those out. We’re new to our area so even getting into a good GP has been a challenge.

Your post did make me think about intrusive thoughts actually. I have been told previously that I have GAD with OCD tendencies but I feel the OCD may be on the rise. Both my anxiety and my OCD manifest in less typical ways, agitation, control etc sensitivity

I feel a slave to my kids. I have a three year old who’s getting used to a new house and school and a new sibling, plus is a 3 year old ha! And I find myself regularly extremely frustrated with her. Then I will be showering or something and have intrusive thoughts about harm coming to her that I couldn’t stop or couldn’t save her and it lead me to tears. It’s like my imagination takes hold of me I can just sit in a moment without the constant monologue. And then there’s the 5 month old.

I find this all very difficult as my expectations of myself are so high and I suppose I expect myself to shut this down or get a handle on it like I have in the past but this time I find when the wave comes it’s so much deeper…

I also am considering taking Something to get some kind of reprieve from symptoms but I feel a failure in doing that. I think I don’t know myself without my anxiety. It also makes my hyper aware and hyper sensitive to people around me Which sometimes feels like an intuition super power if that’s even possible.

I think it’s hard as my own high criticism is mirrored around me by my mum in particular who is the only one in a position to help. She’s happy to help but you have to endure her criticism on all the tiny little details in order to get it so it’s a bit of a rob peter to pay Paul.

I also find it difficult to commit to helpful practices like journaling or meditation. I haven’t done those things since having kids, I thought I was past that stage and it feels again like a failure to have to use these things. And then of course there’s not doing it perfectly so why start.

as you can probably tell I’m a bit of a rambling mess! Haha

in any case I really appreciate your reply and you sharing your experience, it’s sounds so hard and I can see you’ve committed lots of to her time to helping others, such a selfless act.

[geoff]

Hello JayHasit, now that you have mentioned having OCD, makes your situation so much tougher, as I too have this illness and know what it's capable of making us do.

It puts an extra strain on your situation, I'm very sorry to know.

Geoff.

[JayHasit]

Thanks Geoff,

I honestly didn’t really think about the interplay between the two until now. It was mentioned to me years ago on first diagnosis and honestly hasn’t been a feature of my talk therapy since that first year… I don’t typically know how to differentiate symptoms other than my suspicion is when I get an idea in my head, anxiety driven or otherwise it’s extremely difficult for me to leave it be until I’ve seen through every variable.

i might discuss it with my counsellor next week.

until then I’m just getting out of the house and took a tip from one of the coping skills threads ‘doing it half added’ instead of perfectly.

[Petal22]

Hi JayHasit,

That’s ok…… 😊 I’m happy to support you.

I understand how difficult it is to live this way.

After having my second child I actually forgot all about OCD until it came back with a vengeance.

I actually remember with my first pregnancy my health professionals did tell me that my OCD could return in stressful situations.

Please also try to call PANDA, I can see that Geoff has also recommended this. 😊They may know of some perinatal clinics in your area.

I can see you have had alot of changes in your life recently with the move this can also contribute to the stress you feel.

Please know that if it is OCD contributing to your condition you can’t just shut it down on your own. You need to see the correct health professionals who can help you to break free of OCD.

Im sorry your mum criticises I understand this would be hard and something you don’t need at the moment.

Meditation is a great practice to learn I believe it got me over the line with my recovery but it’s a practice and you need to practice with it…..

I understand that the intrusive thoughts are really hard to deal with while you are in the grips of OCD and anxiety…

Mine where also about harm coming to my children and sometimes in my thoughts I was the one doing the harm which was something so foreign to me……. I loved my children with all of my heart and then I had these horrible intrusive thoughts and images to deal with…… they made my anxiety sky rocket…..mine were unrelenting and where on repeat…. They highly distressed me….. I would have done anything to stop these thoughts but I couldn’t do it on my own.

The professionals I saw at the OCD clinic where absolutely amazing and knew exactly how to help me.

Some of the intrusive thoughts I had about my kids tried to have me working up avoidances….. because of my anxiety… these avoidances where around my children and family but I made a decision that the condition I was experiencing wasn’t going to get in the way of myself children and family I pushed back at the anxiety OCD and would always stay very close to the ones I loved….. I’d deliberately hug them.

If your intrusive thoughts and anxiety ever try to get in between your self and family please don’t allow it to… your so much stronger than it……

The intrusive thoughts are kind of like a mirage.

I believe that I came out the other side of the tunnel to help others who are going through mental health, even if it’s just HOPE that they too can recover.

Please chat to me anytime 😀

[JayHasit]

Thanks so much I had multiple epiphanies reading your reply.

I’ll give panda a call tomorrow and see what support they can suggest.

I’ll definitely start my meditation practice again tonight. I know I can do this even though it’s so inconvenient, as you pointed out I can’t ignore it or hide from it.

Thankyou both ❤️❤️

[Petal22]

That’s ok JayHasit 😊

Im glad that my reply resonated with you.

I hope Panda are helpful to you and can help you along your journey by putting you forward to the appropriate people who can help you in your area.

I think it’s fantastic you have started meditation practice just keep persevering.

Yes we can’t ignore or hide from what is happening within us it’s something that does require professional help and it’s not something you can endure alone and I am so happy that you had the courage to reach out to us so we could help you in some way.

Please applaud your self for reaching out and please keep reaching out, your journey may seem long and hard at times but I promise you that with the correct help you will move forward through this and find yourself at peace and calm once again…. It’s a journey and it’s something that requires perseverance.

Stay positive within your self and keep a knowing within you that in time you will recover, it won’t be instant but through perseverance it really is possible.

Please chat to us on this thread anytime we would love to hear about your journey and of course offer you support.