I have been thinking for a while now that I may have antenatal depression. I seem to suffer from the typical symptoms. some days are better but most of the time I just feel like crap. I havent really talked to anyone about it and dont intend to at this point. Im not scared that I will hurt myself or the baby in anyway, I just feel very low and irritated, almost all the time, and I snap at people, mostly DH or DS for just little things, then I usually end up crying my eyes out afterwards from guilt (I feel sorry for my poor DH and DS who have to go through it too)
just wondering if anyone else here is going through something similar at the moment and is there any other methods that I could use to feel better? I dont wanna see a psych or be put on meds, just need to know some other methods I can use to pick myself up.
Hello
I know how you feel, i've suffered from depression for many years, and while I took medication for it you don't need to!
Firstly, your hormones will be driving you absolutely crazy, it happens to all of us! It may seem obvious but when you're feeling low you don't realise how important it is so... Make sure you rest! Sleep when you can. Get DH to keep your DS occupied on weekend mornings so you can get a big sleep in, go to bed early etc etc. Eating lots of healthy food is always a good idea, but drinking lots of water helped me most.
But i think the most important thing is to go easy on yourself. Don't put pressure on yourself to be completely happy all the time, your allowed to get tired and irritable! Do something fun for yourself, too. Whatever it is that makes you happy to do whether it's sitting down having a movie marathon or going for a walk through the park, just do it!
Have you got a good support network? Talk to them until you can't talk anymore. Getting everything off your chest can work wonders, or even just chatting about things you like, what's happening in the world etc. Surround yourself with people who make you feel good!
I hope that helps and that you're feeling better soon!
I suffered AND through both my pregs and afterwards PND. The first one I managed without meds.
Stuff that helped included;
- telling someone - I don't mean anyone with qualifications, I just mean someone who you know will be supportive. I went for 30 long weeks before I even told my husband, even though i knew exactly what it was. I had become so good at hiding it, he just thought I was being nasty. Once I told him and the support was there it really helped. He made me tell my Ob who then monitored it but only went as far as I wanted her too. That gave me a bit of power back IYKWIM? Can you tell you MW at the clinic?
- a journal of how I was feeling
- yoga and meditation
- a really good diet. Making proper effort to eat whole, unprocessed nutricious food and taking my vitamins
- exercise. Nothing strenuous just a short walk most days, but making the effort to get out, look around and relax.
HTH a little. There is much support in the Anx/Depression threads too hun.
I had AND throughout my pregnancy and I found that a healthy diet and exercise really helped. I found i'd tend to feel more low on the unhealthier food days and days where I didn't take time out and go for a walk.
Mine tended to clear up post pregnancy and I just had mega baby blues. I spoke to a counciller to sort of help me work through the shock of motherhood and help me vent my feelings before it got on top of me.
When I was 30 weeks, my FIL arrived to stay with us indefinitely, without warning, and with more baggage than just that which came on the plane, iykwim. He didn't have a job, so I was at home with him and my son while my partner went to work everyday. It was awful. I didn't cope very well at all! I cried a LOT and then it got to the point where I was so unhappy, I just wanted to leave my family and go away and not come back, as I was convinced they would be better off without me. I figured our son would soon forget me (he was 18 months old when our daughter was born, so he was still pretty little at this point) and my partner would be able to find a much more capable and happier partner, whom my son would love. Oh yeah, and of course, once the baby was born I was trying to work out how I could put her up for adoption or something - as you can see, I spent an unhealthy lot of time dwelling on stuff and feeling very low!!
I talked to the midwife about how I was feeling unable to cope (before I'd got to this point, actually) and she said, "of course you don't feel able to cope. You're pregnant, and those hormones make a stressful situation worse!" She gave me heaps of information and what was best: she didn't assume I was stupid or incapable of functioning just because I was having these feelings. Actually I was fairly convinced that the midwife would write a huge note on my file like "BEWARE!!! CRAZY WOMAN" or something, but she just wrote what I had told her, and made sure I knew numbers to call if I wanted someone else to talk to. It really validated my feelings and me as "normal", you know?
Also, once I went through the scenario (me leaving, them better off, etc) to M, and had a huge cry about it, I was amazed how much easier it was to deal with everything. I felt as if he was on my side, rather than someone else I had to worry about hurting.
Anyway, in my case, knowing that hormones play a huge role (I'm generally not really prone to lows which last a long time) and having both a medical-type and my partner listen to me and offer support (both professional and just emotional) really really made a difference to me. And while you said you don't intend to talk to anyone about it, I guess I just wanted to let you know that I was pleasantly surprised that this is more common than I'd thought and they weren't going to suddenly lock me away because of it.
Plus the exercise - huge help, and also making sure that I ate regularly throughout the day, because I get sugar lows if I don't eat, and when I'm sad I don't eat, and you can see where that leads.
Sorry to go on a bit. Just wanted to let you know in addition to the others that you're in good company - if that's any comfort! and I hope you feel happier soon
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or something, but she just wrote what I had told her, and made sure I knew numbers to call if I wanted someone else to talk to. It really validated my feelings and me as "normal", you know? 
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