If Mommy's Being Honest


Book Description

This is not only a raw and honest love letter to your sweet baby, but a "Children's Book" for you; the ever changing, evolving, and new-born mother. This book was written with prayer and intention to not only help mothers explain with gentle honesty how hard motherhood can be to their little one(s), but to encourage mothers with resources and information regarding postpartum depression and other perinatal mood disorders. Because awareness begins in the home, through this book, may you find the grace and tools to healing. May this open up dialogue amongst all generations of women to be vulnerable about their joys and their sorrows in mothering, and may you courageously learn to say, "mommy is learning" and "mommy cries too.




When Mommy Feels Sad: A Mother's Journey Through Depression


Book Description

When Mommy Feels Sad: A Mother’s Journey Through Depression captures one woman’s experience with depression. She explores her feelings and actions and their impact on her family. Her steps toward recovery include self-care, meeting with doctors, taking medication, and working with a therapist. The story’s resolution is not one of healing, but of hope. Parents, teachers, school counselors, physicians, and therapists can use When Mommy Feels Sad as a vehicle for discussing and understanding depression. Although mental illness creates complicated feelings and unique experiences, it should not isolate those who suffer, including children. This book can give children and adults a vocabulary to describe this mental illness and normalize the experience for everyone involved. Each page can spark a meaningful conversation. With over twenty-five years of working with clients of all ages who have experienced depression, I have heard repeatedly the need to “de-stigmatize” depression. Most of us will struggle with it at one time or another. Heidi’s book does just that! The simplicity and directness of her style make it easy for children to understand something that might otherwise be scary as they watch a parent or loved one struggle. Adults will also be drawn to her straightforward and gentle explanation of what it’s like to be a typical mom who struggles with depression. What a great way to open a conversation about a difficult struggle and to help loved ones better understand. Grab your copy today and start the conversation! —Caralee Frederic, LCSW, CGT, SRT




Down Came the Rain


Book Description

In this compelling memoir, Brooke Shields talks candidly about her experience with postpartum depression after the birth of her daughter, and provides millions of women with an inspiring example of recovery. When Brooke Shields welcomed her newborn daughter, Rowan Francis, into the world, something unexpected followed--a crippling depression. Now, for the first time ever, in Down Came the Rain, Brooke talks about the trials, tribulations, and finally the triumphs that occurred before, during, and after the birth of her daughter.




That's Mental


Book Description

"Incredible!"—Samantha Irby, New York Times bestselling author of We Are Never Meeting in Real Life and Meaty Raw, witty, and unapologetic, That’s Mental is a collection of laugh-out-loud funny, confessional essays about the inappropriate, devastating, and strangely amusing side to being mentally ill. In her book, British comedy writer Amanda Rosenberg breaks down myths and misconceptions about what it means to live, laugh, love with bipolar II in a darkly funny, but familiar way. That’s Mental dives head-first into the overlooked and offbeat issues of mental illness, it shines a harsh, fitting room light on thoughts and ideas that are often avoided, because they’re uncomfortable or just downright embarrassing. These pages move through the everyday realities of mental illness, covering everything from, how reaching out for help is a fucking nightmare, to dealing with people who suggest “cures” for your depression, to making up excuses to miss work just so you can take a mental health day. That’s Mental is an uproarious and brutally honest collection of confessions from someone who’s been there, done that, and still has no idea what she’s doing.




Mommy Burnout


Book Description

The ultimate must-read handbook for the modern mother: a practical, and positive tool to help free women from the debilitating notion of being the "perfect mom," filled with funny and all too relatable true-life stories and realistic suggestions to stop the burnout cycle, and protect our kids from the damage burnout can cause. Moms, do you feel tired? Overwhelmed? Have you continually put off the things you need to do for you? Do you feel like it’s all worth it because your kids are happy? Are you "over" being a mother? If you answered yes to these questions, you’re not alone. Parents today want to create the ideal childhood for their children. Women strive to be the picture-perfect Pinterest mother that looks amazing, hosts the best birthday parties in town, posts the most "liked" photos, and serves delicious, nutritious home-cooked meals in her neat, organized home after ferrying the kids to school and a host of extracurricular activities on time. This drive, while noble, can also be destructive, causing stress and anxiety that leads to "mommy burnout." Psychologist and family counselor Dr. Sheryl Ziegler is well-versed in the stress that moms face, and the burden of guilt they carry because they often feel like they aren’t doing enough for their kids’ happiness. A mother of three herself, Dr. Z—as she’s affectionately known by her many patients—recognizes and understands that modern moms are all too often plagued by exhaustion, failure, isolation, self-doubt, and a general lack of self-love, and their families are also feeling the effects, too. Over the last nineteen years working with families and children, Dr. Z has devised a prescriptive program for addressing "mommy burnout"—teaching moms that they can learn to re-energize themselves and still feel good about their families and their lives. In this warm and empathetic guide, she examines this modern epidemic among mothers who put their children’s happiness above their own, and offers empowering, proven solutions for alleviating this condition, saving marriages and keeping kids happy in the process.




The Valedictorian of Being Dead


Book Description

From New York Times bestselling author and blogger Heather B. Armstrong comes an honest and irreverent memoir—reminiscent of the New York Times bestseller Brain on Fire—about her experience as the third person ever to participate in an experimental treatment for depression involving ten rounds of a chemically induced coma approximating brain death. For years, Heather B. Armstrong has alluded to her struggle with depression on her website, dooce. It’s scattered throughout her archive, where it weaves its way through posts about pop culture, music, and motherhood. In 2016, Heather found herself in the depths of a depression she just couldn’t shake, an episode darker and longer than anything she had previously experienced. She had never felt so discouraged by the thought of waking up in the morning, and it threatened to destroy her life. For the sake of herself and her family, Heather decided to risk it all by participating in an experimental clinical trial. Now, for the first time, Heather recalls the torturous eighteen months of suicidal depression she endured and the month-long experimental study in which doctors used propofol anesthesia to quiet all brain activity for a full fifteen minutes before bringing her back from a flatline. Ten times. The experience wasn’t easy. Not for Heather or her family. But a switch was flipped, and Heather hasn’t experienced a single moment of suicidal depression since. “Breathtakingly honest” (Lisa Genova, New York Times bestselling author), self-deprecating, and scientifically fascinating, The Valedictorian of Being Dead brings to light a groundbreaking new treatment for depression. The Valedictorian of Being Dead was previously published with the subtitle “The True Story of Dying Ten Times to Live.”




Good Moms Have Scary Thoughts


Book Description

Over 90 percent of new mothers will have scary, intrusive thoughts about their baby and themselves. What if I drop him? What if I snap and hurt my baby? Mothering is so hard—I don't know if I really want to do this anymore. Gosh, I'm so terrible for thinking that! Yet for too many mothers, those thoughts remain secret, hidden away in a place of shame that can quickly grow into anxiety, postpartum depression, and even self-harm. But here's the good news: you CAN feel better! Author Karen Kleiman—coauthor of the seminal book This Isn't What I Expected and founder of the acclaimed Postpartum Stress Center—comes to the aid of new mothers everywhere with a groundbreaking new source of hope, compassion, and expert help. Good Moms Have Scary Thoughts is packed with world-class guidance, simple exercises, and nearly 50 stigma-busting cartoons from the viral #speakthesecret campaign that help new moms validate their feelings, share their fears, and start feeling better. Lighthearted yet serious, warm yet not sugary, and perfectly portioned for busy moms with full plates, Good Moms Have Scary Thoughts is the go-to resource for moms, partners, and families everywhere who need help with this difficult period.




Depression & Other Magic Tricks


Book Description

2017 Goodreads Choice Awards - Best Poetry Book Runner-Up Depression & Other Magic Tricks is the debut book by Sabrina Benaim, one of the most-viewed performance poets of all time, whose poem "Explaining My Depression to My Mother" has become a cultural phenomenon with over 50,000,000 views. Depression & Other Magic Tricks explores themes of mental health, love, and family. It is a documentation of struggle and triumph, a celebration of daily life and of living. Andrea Gibson, author of Lord of the Butterflies writes "I read this book on a day I couldn't get out of bed and it made me feel like I had a friend in the world...Simply put, this book disappears loneliness."




When a Parent is Depressed


Book Description

This groundbreaking work is the first book to look at depression as an illness that affects the entire family, not just the individual.- 17.5 million Americans suffer from some form of depression, and 9.2 million have major or clinical depression.




Mum, I Wish I Was Dead


Book Description

Adam Schwartz has spent more than a third of his life battling depression. At the age of 10, he began periods of school refusal, bouts of destruction, physical illness, endless trials with unsuccessful drug regimes and contemplation of suicide. Finally, he was forced to drop out of high school and relinquish his hopes of further education and a bright, healthy future. Fortunately, Adam's story has a happy ending. As someone who has only just left those terrible years behind, his recollections of what it is like to be a child and teenager suffering with depression are vivid. mum, i wish i was dead tells the story of Adam's journey through this illness and was written to help raise awareness of depression and give hope to both carers and sufferers. For more information, go to www.adamschwartz.com.au "Depression and related forms of mental ill-health plague at least half of young people as they face the challenges and ordeals of the transition from childhood to adulthood. They struggle with the 'hero's journey'. This book not only describes one such journey with great honesty and sensitivity, it also provides hope and proof of how to navigate the route. It could be a useful guide to the next generation who pass this way." - Professor Pat McGorry AO, University of Melbourne. Executive Director, Orygen, The National Centre of Excellence in Youth Mental Health "This is a brave, candid and beautifully written description of the effect of depression that will be of enormous educational value for sufferers, their family and health professionals. The book also serves to provide much-needed hope that, with appropriate treatment and support, the outcome can be very positive." - Professor Garry Walter AM, Chair of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, University of Sydney