For Michelle2, not going back to work was not an option; she needed to work to maintain her mental health.
Transcript
I continued to improve. I came to realise with talking to her that maybe not taking the full maternity leave that I’d planned to take, or not going back to work was not a thing for me. I needed to work for my mental health. So that’s something I discovered, and went back to work. I definitely had a lot of anxiety going back to work post all this, and with a new baby at home. So that continued. I continued to get better and I was completely off medication. I was doing much better just being aware of my mental health. I prior to this incident, I never had any issues with mental health growing up at all. So this was all very new to me. And even just like taking care of my mental health. That was not something I ever even thought about before.
More from: Michelle 2
More content
- Coping with Perinatal Mental Health – Michelle2Exercise, getting outside and taking vitamin D made a huge difference for Michelle2.
- Medication and Treatment Approaches – Michelle2 (clip 2)Michelle2 finally slept once in hospital and on anti-psychotic medications.
- Medication and Treatment Approaches – Michelle2Michelle2 was reassured by her doctors that the medications were safe for breastfeeding.
- Seeking and Finding Reliable Information – Michelle2Using social media helped Michelle2 to find information and think about her own condition and how she was handling it.
- Work, Finances and Mental Health – Michelle2For Michelle2, not going back to work was not an option; she needed to work to maintain her mental health.
- Support from Family and Friends – Michelle2Michelle2's sister played an important role in making sure she received the right help after being discharged.
- Stigma and Feeling Judged – Michelle2Michelle2 didn't want to go to the hospital as she didn't want her coworkers and friends to find out.
- Symptoms – Michelle2Michelle2 experienced intrusive thoughts and continued to get increasingly worse until a psychosis set in.
- First Symptoms – Michelle2For the first three months after giving birth, Michelle2 felt great, but then she began experiencing sleep issues and her mental health started to decline.
- Before and During Pregnancy – Michelle2After mental health issues with her first pregnancy, Michelle2 was proactive during the next pregnancy.