Postpartum Depression | Maternal Mental Health: Liz's Story

Postpartum Depression Recovery | Maternal Mental Health: Liz’s Story

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“My baby was the only thing I loved.

Everything else, I wanted to go away.

And I didn’t know that that could also be postpartum depression.”

So begins Liz’s story of sadness, isolation, depression and, thankfully, recovery.

After her first child was born, Liz knew that things weren’t on track.  Her personality shifted. Her behavior at home and work was out of character. “I was not cleaning my house. Not opening the blinds. Not really doing much at work,” she says. Liz found herself avoiding people and only finding a sense of comfort and peace when she was with her newborn son.

A chance encounter with an article by model and television personality Chrissy Teigen about the celebrity’s experience with postpartum depression altered her life. Liz recognized her symptoms in Chrissy’s story, and sought help. She was diagnosed with postpartum depression and began therapy right away. Therapy was key to unlocking Liz’s past history with trauma.

“I think my postpartum depression was really linked to past traumas that I hadn’t worked through,” she says. Liz’s therapist helped her identify the root of her issue—that Liz had been a victim of sexual violence years before, and the birthing process triggered her depression.

Postpartum depression recovery

At first, Liz was embarrassed to tell people that she had postpartum depression. “I didn’t want them to think I was, I don’t know, lesser than, or not a good partner or parent, which it has nothing to do with any of that. And I was getting help and doing all the right things, so I think it made me an awesome parent and partner. But it was still just difficult.”

However, identifying her postpartum depression as well as sharing the news about it with friends, colleagues and family members was eventually healing for Liz. “As I shared and I got some of the weight off my shoulders, it just, everything got better, you know? So if I could do that for someone else, it would feel really good.”

Liz now shares her story about her recovery in hopes of helping others and wholeheartedly embraces the title of “activist.” “It really matters,” she says. “The fights are worth fighting.”

And because of the preparations Liz and her husband made, and the work Liz did in therapy to process her history of trauma, she enjoyed the postpartum period with her second baby.

“Liz’s Story” is the second in our five-part OC87 Recovery Diaries series titled “Holding Space: Stories of Maternal Mental Health.” The series presents five individuals who tell of touching, challenging journeys with postpartum depression and perinatal anxiety and mood disorders (PMADS). We hope you enjoy these stories and share widely.

Special thanks go to Perri Shaw Borish, psychotherapist, founder of Whole Heart Maternal Mental Health and project advisor to this series.

Postpartum depression recovery

EDITOR IN CHIEF: Gabriel Nathan | EDITOR: Glenn Holsten | DESIGN: Leah Alexandra Goldstein | PUBLISHER: Bud Clayman

See Related Recovery Stories: Anxiety, Depression, Holding Space: Stories of Maternal Mental Health, Mental Health Short Films

Tags: anxiety, depression, Glenn Holsten, motherhood, Perinatal Anxiety and Mood Disorders, postpartum depression

Glenn is an award-winning director who loves to create compelling documentary story experiences of all lengths for screens of all sizes. He is an avid reader, studied literature in college, and his passion for stories with strong characters and interesting narratives stems from those years. His career as a visual storyteller began at WHYY (the public television station in Philadelphia) where he worked for 15 years before becoming an independent filmmaker. In addition to his PBS documentaries about arts and culture, he has directed films about justice and human rights, and now, mental health. He was emboldened to undertake his current documentary project, Hollywood Beauty Salon, a colorful feature-length documentary about surviving mental illness and finding the courage for recovery, after his transformative experience directing OC87: The Obsessive Compulsive, Major Depression, Bipolar, Asperger’s Movie, along with Bud Clayman and Scott Johnston.