The aim of my blog, and social media outlets was to take a more positive approach to postnatal depression. You may think it’s a strange thing to do, a positive outlook on the most negative impact of my life. But I couldn’t help noticing that so much of what I read online about depression and postnatal depression was almost triggering me into a more depressive state. I wanted to see hopeful messages, that show you can get through it.
I am a bit of a Pinterest lover – how many hours do we waste on that – pinning things for my mansion and acres of land I’m never going to own! But something I would find myself constantly searching for were inspirational quotes, and things generally about depression that might inspire me. So much of what I would see would be black, grey, contain words like ‘useless’ or ‘worthless’ – things that reinforce what you already feel about yourself when you have depression. Reading these would leave me feeling deflated, in the end I stopped looking. When you are depressed, you naturally filter out the information you get and latch on to the negative images and text that back up what you already feel.
That’s why the majority of my images are bright, colourful and optimistic. I want to put positivity into the world, depression is the darkest, hopeless experience, not to feel any positive feelings (especially when Like me I’ve always been a sunny happy person) it’s unbearable. So maybe there are others out there too who would benefit from a positive outlook from someone who has been there, knows exactly how it feels and has come through the other side.
This is my favourite quote, it inspired me so much during my recovery, now the Lotus Flower has become my symbol for hope
By producing and sharing these (hopefully!) inspirational images, I’m not trying to portray that depression isn’t a dark place to be – in fact a lot of these pictures can illustrate quite well how u feel inside, but for me they didn’t help towards recovery.
I hope these images help someone, I hope that maybe there are people out there that read my blog and think ‘yes that’s what I’ve been feeling, I’m not alone’ and that it can offer the hope they need to keep fighting so that one day they can too can be happier again.
Lotus Petal Family Support is a peer support network based in Essex, UK. Aiming to provide, support, friendship and advice to help those suffering postnatal depression get the help they deserve. We are volunteering and working to raise awareness and help improve perinatal mental health services in Essex.
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1 thought on “Shining Light Into The Depression Fog”
Beautiful 🙂 I completely know what you mean re needing more messages of hope out there. And I’m obsessed with inspirational quotes on Pinterest too. You’re doing fab work x
Beautiful 🙂 I completely know what you mean re needing more messages of hope out there. And I’m obsessed with inspirational quotes on Pinterest too. You’re doing fab work x
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