Finding Your Anchor Through the Storm of Postpartum Depression
There are many things that I use daily to help treat my postpartum depression (PPD) but the most consistent thing that I turn to is my faith. I was baptized into Christianity on December 11, 2016. I was 31 years old. Often people will say that once "they found God" life got better, but I like to say that once God found me my life found more meaning. In God I find my strength and my will to persevere.
Finding your anchor during PPD
In my darkest hours I so often feel lost and alone, but then I remember that Jesus left the 99 to find the 1 (Luke 15:3-7). When I remember this, I know that in that moment of darkness that I truly am not alone. Jesus has sought and found me in my lowest of lows. Does my faith in God fix all my problems? No, it doesn't. But it gives me the hope that there is a light at the end of the tunnel. My faith allows me to reach out and metaphorically hold the hand of Jesus and know that I am not alone in my struggle.
When I need my faith the most
I know that I can do anything with God's presence in my life. When my PPD has me feeling all tangled up in uncertainty and despair, I can call out to God and He will help my feet find the ground again. Some days it's all I can do to keep my world from going sideways. God helps keep my feet grounded so that I can keep moving forward, step by step, through the storms of life.
During the PPD storm
During last summer (2023) I hit a low so low that I didn’t know how to find my way back out of the hole that PPD had thrust me in. I stood in the shower sobbing... again. This time I spoke out loud to God. I asked Him why He had made me to be this way, why had He created such a broken being? I begged God to fix me. I told Him that I knew that He could snap His fingers and all would be well. But then I remembered that God doesn't make mistakes. He created me just the way that I am for a purpose.
My faith and my purpose
Then I connected with my friend, Amanda, and she connected me to the content creators for this website and I thought, ah ha! Speaking to you about my experiences and life with postpartum depression so that you don't feel alone and lost is part of my purpose here. I am here for you. My hope is that I help you, dear reader, feel a little less alone, uncertain, and lost.
Finding what grounds you during PPD
Even if you aren't a religious person, find that one thing that you can turn to during the worst of times that will help you keep your feet under you. It could be God, like it is for me. Or it could be a loved one or an item.
Sometimes just finding a way to keep ourselves grounded during the darkest parts of postpartum depression is all that we can manage that day, and that's OK! So long as we keep putting our feet one in front of the other and trudge along, it means we've had a success.