WOMEN' S HE ALTH
How my mother
influenced me by Michelle Taffe
W
hen I was young, my mother worked full time as a high school teacher. She would get
up early in the morning at 6am – which in the winter in Canberra where we lived was freezing cold and frosty – and she would hang out the washing before coming inside to get breakfast for us all and then getting us onto our bikes for school before going to work herself. She taught me the importance of doing work that you love (she was passionate about her subject – English literature) and about working hard to give your best. She taught me to love nature, and to eat healthy foods, preferably grown in your own garden. She was a passionate veggie gardener, as well as a bottler and jam maker. Every summer, she would send me and my brothers up the trees (we had many fruit trees in the garden) to pick the plums, apricots, apples and pears that were hanging in abundance from the branches. I remember my mother was happy in summer making all of her preserves and she would sing little songs about whatever she was doing. ‘Jam, jam bubbling on the stoooove!’ – funny little things like that. My mother also taught me about writing, helping me with my English homework and being encouraging and supportive when I showed her my poems and stories. It is partly thanks to her that I became a writer. My mother taught me to be enthusiastic about life, even when it seemed that things were not going in your favour. She taught me to follow my dreams and believe in myself and she continues to teach me this through following her own dreams to become a historian. n
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Michelle Taffe is the founder of The Global Yogi website where she shares articles on self-love and personal and spiritual growth, as well as
yoga and spirit events worldwide. 14 MAY 2017
Post-natal depression
Luckily, our society is becoming morae open and understanding about post-natal depression. Treatment is readily available, but awareness is key to accessing it.
by Jeanette Gray
M
ental illness has been something of a taboo topic for centuries, dating way back
when sufferers from any kind of mental instability or depression were labelled ‘insane’ or ‘mad’. It just wasn’t spoken about and was totally misunderstood. I’d like to talk mainly about post-natal
depression (PND). PND is something very close to my
heart as this disease has travelled through my family’s history. My grandmother tragically suffered with what was called back then ‘insanity of lactation’. She was committed to a mental hospital, where she underwent some very invasive and painful treatments for her condition. These treatments sadly did more harm than good. Devastatingly, in the middle of her traumatic early motherhood, she killed her baby and tried several times to kill herself. She succeeded in ending her life when she was just 28 years old, leaving a toddler behind. Her desperate actions caused lifetimes of pain and suffering for those left behind and the generations that followed. That was back in the early 1900s.
Today, I’m happy to say, our society is much more open and understanding of this illness and treatment is nothing like it was. Treatment is now more accessible with much better results and it’s no longer swept under the carpet. HOWEVER, the sufferer needs to be able to recognise the symptoms, and seek help from a professional to obtain a diagnosis and receive treatment with the love and care that this illness deserves. Awareness is the key. If you or someone you know has any
symptoms you feel could be PND, reach out and ask for help. Do whatever it takes to stop the cycle before it’s too late. Help is readily available, either through your doctor or helplines such as Lifeline or Beyond Blue. Don’t wait, do it today. n
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Jeanette Gray has just released her first book Kiss Billie for Me xxx. Post-natal depression is very close to her heart.
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