So, at the moment, there’s a storyline on Eastenders where Stacey Slater, who has bipolar disorder, develops postnatal psychosis after the birth of her child.
You might have found this blog searching for bipolar disorder and pregnancy. Or you may be watching Eastenders and feeling quietly terrified. Or relieved. Or confused. Or even disgusted.
From finding out I was pregnant, to having my babe, I’ve been blogging about what my experiences of having bipolar disorder and being pregnant and under psychiatric care have been like, including the good stuff, the shit stuff, the triumphant stuff and the angry-making stuff. And on how my having a mental illness has also not defined my pregnancy, or my parenting, as much as I feared it would. I’ve collected those posts as a series, which you can read here.
The Beginning: Pregnant, Mental and Fat
My Big Fat Bipolar Pregnancy: featuring the perinatal team, the birth plan and the Fear
My Birth Story, Why Birth Plans are Bullshit and the Stigma of Mentalist Mums
Musings on Mumhood: Feminism, Love and Grief
Therapy Tales Part 1– when I started therapy for death and postnatal anxiety
My Body Has a Trigger Warning: Self harm and stigma
Stopping psychiatric medication after 16 years: My Drink and Drugs Heck
And if you don’t have time to read, here’s my video which talks about how my diagnosis shaped my care:
But if you’re already in the trenches of depression or more and want some support and real life stories, then you can check out PNDandMe on Twitter.
Hope this helps someone.
Filed under: bipolar, Eastenders, Mental health, pregnancy, Stacey Slater | Tagged: eastenders, pnd, pnp, stacey slater | 7 Comments »
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