East Texas mother opens up about postpartum depression

TYLER, Texas (KLTV) - Every year during the month of May, millions of people around the world join the national movement to raise awareness for mental health.

Mental health challenges can come unexpectedly and look different for everyone. They may appear at a time that is considered to be one of the happiest of your life, the birth of a baby. A new baby can bring big changes that cause a stir of emotions, from excitement to joy and fear to anxiety.

For one East Texas mother, the feelings were more severe and lasted longer.

“I really couldn’t do much. Like, I didn’t have much of a functioning capability, really, just to do day-to-day adult life things. They were hard,” a nurse at UT Health East Texas, Alyssa Brown, said. ” Eventually, I started having suicidal thoughts. Never tried to; never had a plan, necessarily, but I knew all of it was not normal.”

Brown gave birth to her baby while working as a nurse for UT Health East Texas in 2018. That’s around the time, she experienced postpartum depression.

Health officials say it can be mistaken for “baby blues,” but the symptoms are more intense and last longer. According to the C.D.C., one out of every eight new moms experience postpartum depression after giving birth.

For Brown, besides taking medication, she also decided to do therapy.

“I think therapy is what saved me for sure, what helped me just to learn,” Brown said. “How to think what I was thinking, you know, and how to process it and get past it.”

If you’re experiencing postpartum depression or if your “baby blues” don’t go away after two weeks, the C.D.C recommends getting in touch with your primary doctor.

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