When the walls start closing in, a shift in your surroundings can help. Even 13 years later, Graeme Seabrook can still vividly remember how she felt when she got home from the hospital with her newborn son. And I felt all-consuming rage, like 24/7; nothing made me happy.
Nothing made me even peaceful. It was really hard to sleep. Breastfeeding was torturous.
It was scary.” Seabrook, now a mom of two, says she felt claustrophobic in her two-bedroom home in Charleston, SC, where she lived at the time. And even when I tried to, my anxiety was so bad that I couldn't leave.” Seabrook was ultimately diagnosed with postpartum depression (PPD) and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), and, with treatment, was able to emerge from the fog. She now lives in Colorado and created Whole Human Mama, an online support space for moms.
But you don’t need a diagnosis to know what it’s like to feel trapped. It’s common for new moms to feel stuck at home, even without PPD, says Catherine Monk, Ph.D., psychologist and division chief of Women’s Mental Health in the Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology at Columbia University. Postpartum brings on a dramatic lifestyle shift.
During pregnancy, you may still be going to work, meeting friends for coffee, and generally living on your time. Once the baby arrives, your world gets a lot smaller, and it’s often just you and the baby following the same routine day in and day out. Plus, if you’re already in the thick of PPD, getting out of the house, or even off the couch, can feel impossible.
But even the littlest of wins can make a big impact on how you feel, says Monk. This isn’t about uprooting your life or your comfort zone. A small change of scenery can do wonders to improve your mood.
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