Therapists and counselors also struggle with mental health. Licensed mental health professional Jenna Overbaugh treats anxiety disorders for a living, but after the birth of her son she struggled with postpartum anxiety, depression and OCD.
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Jenna always assumed that her training and profession would have her well prepared to handle anxiety and depression issues in own life. After a traumatic delivery experience, Jenna began to experience intrusive thoughts centered on accidentally harming her newborn. The thoughts expanded and against her own professional advice, Jenna found herself unwittingly engaging in the avoidance and safety behaviors that she logically knew fuel the problem.
Jenna’s experience taught her that there is giant hole in our society where the basics of mental health for new mothers should be. Without having the benefit of the knowledge Jenna has, the average new mom is totally lost and terrified when confronted with the common mental health struggles that can pop up after childbirth. There is plenty of information about the nuts and bolts of delivery and caring for a newborn but virtually no discussion of even basic postpartum mental health concepts.
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Music Credit: "Afterglow" by Ben Drake (https://facebook.com/BenDrakeMusic) with permission