pregnancy depressionIt hurts me to see people I care about suffer from perinatal mood and anxiety disorders like postpartum depression and antenatal depression. In fact, it hurts me to see people I’ve never even met suffering from perinatal mood and anxiety disorders. I want to jump across time and space, right into their living rooms, and hug them and hold their hands and spend untold hours offering hope and giving them support. Sit with them at three in the morning when they can’t stop their minds from running. Recount the countless success stories I know. Show them the pictures of the Warrior Moms.

There should be a way to do that, right? Jump across time and space? Didn’t Einstein say that somewhere?

This is the case with Casey. I’ve been out of town, so I only just now read her post about antenatal depression (aka depression during pregnancy) over at Moosh in Indy. I hate this for her because even though both she and I know that she’ll get through it, being in the middle of antenatal depression (or any other mental illness related to pregnancy or childbirth) is like being in the middle of a black hole. All the light is sucked out. Anything that matters or is made of matter is ripped to shreds by massive forces. It’s hard to imagine that something in that many pieces could ever be put back together again.

It will be, though. It takes time. Help. Patience that it’s just so unfair to even ask someone to have.

Just hold on Casey. Hold on.

Photo credit: c Andrea Danti – Fotolia.com