I am no stranger to death and suicide. My sister died of an overdose of alcohol and acetaminophen in 2007, leaving behind her two young sons whom my husband and I are now raising. We’d already lost my brother-in-law to skin cancer just months before,...
Dads Matter. I write often about how much moms matter, and certainly we do matter—tremendously. But today, it’s dad’s turn. Dads matter, too. Tremendously. Unfortunately, I’ve seen too many dads who don’t fully realize how important they are. They don’t realize the potential they have to influence...
[caption id="attachment_3601" align="alignleft" width="246"] My dear friend, Jody.[/caption] Help a Wonderful Family As I shared in my recent post, "Self-Care & Letting Help In--The 2 Most Important Things," I lost my dear friend, Jody, last week, as a result of mental illness. She left behind her husband...
It wasn’t until I first became a mother--with a beautiful baby boy I dearly loved, yet still struggling through postpartum depression--that I realized how hard it was to practice self-care and let others help me. I thought I could—and should—do it all on my own....
I have been a member of/volunteer with Postpartum Support International (PSI) since 1999. Over the years, I've served as a warmline volunteer, an AZ state support coordinator, and even as the PR Chair on the PSI Board of Directors. I can definitely vouch for the...
I don’t usually post this often--3 times in one week--and I don’t usually hit the keyboard furiously the second I finally get all my kids out the door. But today, I can’t help it. My heart is racing, my head is pounding, and I feel like, if...
Beyond Postpartum Depression (PPD) Postpartum Depression (PPD) is the most commonly talked about and treated form of Perinatal Mood/Anxiety Disorder (PMAD). It affects as many as one in five new mothers (up to 20%), and can have a significant impact on the father, the infant, and...
Relationships can be exhausting, especially when we lose sight of the person we really love. We can get so entrenched in our feelings, our position, our hurt, that we fail to see the efforts, large or small, of the other. One of the books that’s made...