Struggling with Day-to-Day Parenting and Major Depressive Disorder: A Personal Perspective
Lorraine C. Ladish, a renowned author, motivational speaker, and co-founder of Viva Fifty Media, LLC, has been battling Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) and anxiety since she was 17 years old.
MDD, also known as clinical depression, is a mental health condition characterized by intense feelings of despair, sadness, and hopelessness. These feelings can impair daily life, causing an inability to experience joy, fatigue, weight changes, sleep disturbances, and restlessness. Recurrent thoughts of death or suicide are a possible symptom of MDD.
Ladish has been open about her struggle with MDD and anxiety, emphasizing that dealing with such issues is a lifelong challenge with ups and downs, and what works for one person may not work for someone else.
For several years, Ladish did not discuss her anxiety or depression with her children. However, her youngest child, around 12 years old at the time, discovered her medications listed on an identification bracelet and recognized them from pop or rap songs.
Ladish, a mother of two, stopped taking her antidepressants and anti-anxiety medications cold turkey during both pregnancies and while nursing each of her children. After weaning each of her kids, she started feeling depressed and getting panic attacks.
Despite the challenges, Ladish has taken active steps to manage her MDD and anxiety. She practices yoga, exercises regularly, journals, does therapy as needed, meditates, takes medication, gets out of the house, and reads books.
Ladish's children, who discovered her taking medication for MDD and anxiety when they were around 12 and 15 years old, have also been open about their own struggles. Both of them have been in therapy at various times for different reasons. The children knew about Ladish's eating disorder due to books she wrote about it.
Ladish's openness about her mental health issues has helped her children understand that seeking therapy is okay when they don't know how to cope. When they saw she wasn't herself, they encouraged her to go for a run, a small action that made a big difference.
Ladish has never had an issue advocating for herself, which she considers a survival instinct. She faced resistance from her former father-in-law when she requested help babysitting so she could take care of herself. However, she never shied away from speaking up for her needs.
Approximately 1 in 8 women experience symptoms of postpartum depression. Despite the lack of information about how MDD affected Ladish's family or the measures she took to manage parenthood, her story serves as a reminder that mental health issues can affect anyone, and it's essential to seek help when needed.
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