The SANE Blog

TW: This article mentions suicide and traumatic events. 

Guest blog by Anita Link, originally published on her blog, Thought Food. We acknowledge that people's experiences of both private and public mental health support services differ. SANE encourages ongoing discussion and debate around the positives and limitations of our mental health system. 

Have you ever had a moment when your answer to a question determined whether your life imploded?

I have.

It came five days into parenthood. I was lying on the floor in my maternity hospital room crying because I was trying to outrun a jaguar chasing me towards a cliff. Things were starting to go very wrong in my brain.

Having a baby. Arguably one of the largest lifestyle changes an adult can experience.

To help new and would be-parents we spoke to Jenni Richardson, the National Helpline Manager with Perinatal Anxiety and Depression Australia.

Her tips are . . .

Being a parent is challenging.

Change occurs in every area of wellbeing - physical, emotional and social - and the impact can be overwhelming.

Knowing when and how to speak up about the difficulties of parenting is difficult. Expectations define parenthood as something to be enjoyed, but sometimes these expectations don't match reality.