Our Postpartum Psychosis s01 ep07 and last for 2020

[GeorgeKol]

Hello everyone!

Just wanted to share our current family status as the so difficult 2020 goes away.

It’s roughly one year since my wife had her first ppp episode.

So much we’ve been through since then.

She was admitted to hospital asap with me staying with her in the hospital for a week because i was the only one who she trusted even when she was on an crisis. So docs said if was good with it staying may help. And it did! She stayed in the hospital for a month which as a lately heard is minimum time for ppp episodes.

Then we got home. Medical supervision is weekly for her till today. She is still on meds but doctors are gradually starting to lower the dosage and soon she will stop them as she has come a long way.

Returning home was difficult. Had ups and downs. She had very difficult time trying to cope even for the basics and even more difficult to try to connect with our son again.

Long story short, after some months she started to be a little more energetic. She could do some basics and at least cope with our sons caring.

She shortly after this wanted to go back to work. She thought this will help her.

At first she had a very difficult time but as time went by she was ok.

Lately she is starting to connect a lot better with our son. Still its something that she has some road to cover but things are much better and i know now, in time she will build the relation she really wants to have with our son.

For myself covid situation had one thing that helped us a lot. I am a sound engineer so all this time i do not work. So i am home and i’ve taken her place for us. I do all the home stuff plus i raise our child. So this made space for her to focus on herself and her recovery. Also good for me for if i was working i would have missed so many beautiful times with our son since my job its not the typical 8hrs 5 days a week.

Best thing i did for myself on 2020? Got to a psychologist! Really helped me cope with everything and gave me some extra boost when i was on dark times.

I can’t say a lot about out women who are going through this terrible illness as we as husbands cannot grasp what they are going through. Only try to understand a small piece of it.

But from personal experience i can say somethings for us husbands and fathers.

This illness may be getting to our wife’s but we are going through this with our partners. So this affects us more than we can imagine. One thing i took lightly and i shouldn’t was a medics advise when we where on hospital. He told me two things.

One was that had to be very very patient.

Two was get support for yourself.

I now admit a took those advises lightly.

I cannot describe to you how much more above my human threshold i’ve got with my patience. And all this put big pressure for me. And that led me to seek help from a psychologist.

I later found this medic guy and thanked him a lot as his advises helped me cope at times i felt devastated.

So you husbands and fathers out there suffering from the situation know these two things i think will help you a lot.

Arm yourself with patience. More than you imagine that you can have.

And get help for yourself. You cannot imagine how much will help you and by extension how much will help your wives with recovery.

This shall pass and good time are ahead of us.

I know my wife and i have some road to cover. But now i know that this will only makes us stronger.

Peace and love!

Have a merry Christmas everyone!

I hope 2021 will be a little more gentle on us all!

George

[Revans86 Volunteer]

Hi George,

THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart for writing this post. I have just read a snippet to my own husband. Your words are so accurate.

So often you Daddies overlook yourselves to help take care of the whole family including your wives.

I applaud your bravery. You take care of yourself too this Christmas.

With best wishes xxx

[Maria_at_APP Moderator]

Hi GeorgeKol

Such sincere and heartfelt words! Merry Christmas to you too and a very very happy New Year. Good times ahead.

[Lilybeth Volunteer]

Hello GeorgeKol

What amazing support you have been to your wife. It’s so important for men to talk about their feelings too, so your post will be a great help for other dads. I thought your post to Lotto123 will be so reassuring to him.

Take really good care of yourself and have a happy Christmas with your treasured family. Stay safe.

[NanaJudith_APP_Vol Volunteer]

Hello GeorgeKol,well done, such insightful, inspirational words.

Peaceful, Christmas, happy healthy new year to you and family.

Judith x

[Rob84 Volunteer]

Hi George, well done for sharing this and I can relate to alot of what you've written here. Ensuring you get the help you need as a partner is crucial to being as effective as possible in supporting mum and coping with the ups and downs. Overall it sounds like steady progress for you and your family and I sincerely hope this continues in 2021! Hope you had a great Christmas and have a Happy New Year.

[Pikorua Volunteer]

Hi George,

thank you so much for your heartfelt authentic review of your year. My partner and I have been there, too. Everything you've said makes sense.

Beside the traumatising illness there is so much more suffering underneath the surface...For the both of us PTS had kicked in and I was eventually diagnosed with BP1.

I feel so terribly fortunate to have a wonderful soulmate and a 10 year old son. We are a very happy unit.

Our sorrow and lived experiences has strengthened our family unit and I have managed to convert negative into positive energy. We move on and keep on learning.

My gratitude goes out to all those marvellous men, like you and including my partner who have this immense big heart, the love for their partner/wife and child/children. Yes, keep tuning in and listen to your own voice and needs...my partner does a lot of fishing...a hobby is very useful.

On that note, wishing you well, improved health for all of you and much happiness. Enjoy those little special moments of togetherness