Bill
10-10-08, 02:05
I've often read on here about new Mum's suddenly feeling ill due to anxiety so I thought I'd try writing a few thoughts on it.
When I got married, I also started a new job, moved into a new house and had alot of new pressures to cope with. After 5 years of trying to cope with them and especially with my wife's illness, I started to experience severe anxiety, depression and bad panic attacks. I felt trapped.
I went to see a psychologist who explained to me what had happened and he also showed me a way forward so that these days, although I can't say I'm happy, at least for the majority of the time I cope ok.
Anyway, I know this isn't the only cause of new mum's anxiety but when a mother has their first child (especially), this first child is something "new" and extremely precious. This new responsibility together with increased worry creates alot of added stress and so can trigger anxiety symptoms. This new responsibility becomes THE most important thing in their lives and this importance they naturally attach together with the extra stress caused through caring, can easily cause panic symptoms.
However, as time passes, the new responsibility becomes "old" and so the importance also lowers as they become used to it and begin to focus on new responsibilities.
I feel that all a new mum can do is limit the stress new offspring naturally produce by not taking on the "whole" responsibility. The father should also support the mother by giving the mother respite by taking on some of the chores. Also the mother should think about getting away from the house for times to unwind and enjoy themselves but of course making sure the baby is in good hands.
Also though I feel a new mum needs to be aware of their thinking patterns. We are often very intense so we need to learn ways to "relax" in the home by reading or playing music etc. Like all anxiety, we need to learn to not dwell on the future and on negative thoughts that create worries.
Whenever we are faced with something new that is very important to us, our stress levels Will increase and it's learning how to cope with the increased stress that is the key to coping with the anxieties they produce. One thing to remember though is that anxiety symptoms are Natural reaction to increased stress but the symptoms do "naturally" ease IF we allow them to by not dwelling on them. :hugs:
When I got married, I also started a new job, moved into a new house and had alot of new pressures to cope with. After 5 years of trying to cope with them and especially with my wife's illness, I started to experience severe anxiety, depression and bad panic attacks. I felt trapped.
I went to see a psychologist who explained to me what had happened and he also showed me a way forward so that these days, although I can't say I'm happy, at least for the majority of the time I cope ok.
Anyway, I know this isn't the only cause of new mum's anxiety but when a mother has their first child (especially), this first child is something "new" and extremely precious. This new responsibility together with increased worry creates alot of added stress and so can trigger anxiety symptoms. This new responsibility becomes THE most important thing in their lives and this importance they naturally attach together with the extra stress caused through caring, can easily cause panic symptoms.
However, as time passes, the new responsibility becomes "old" and so the importance also lowers as they become used to it and begin to focus on new responsibilities.
I feel that all a new mum can do is limit the stress new offspring naturally produce by not taking on the "whole" responsibility. The father should also support the mother by giving the mother respite by taking on some of the chores. Also the mother should think about getting away from the house for times to unwind and enjoy themselves but of course making sure the baby is in good hands.
Also though I feel a new mum needs to be aware of their thinking patterns. We are often very intense so we need to learn ways to "relax" in the home by reading or playing music etc. Like all anxiety, we need to learn to not dwell on the future and on negative thoughts that create worries.
Whenever we are faced with something new that is very important to us, our stress levels Will increase and it's learning how to cope with the increased stress that is the key to coping with the anxieties they produce. One thing to remember though is that anxiety symptoms are Natural reaction to increased stress but the symptoms do "naturally" ease IF we allow them to by not dwelling on them. :hugs: