Meet Anonymom from California!

Hi mama, how are you on this day

Excited about new employment opportunities – more income.

How many children do you have?

1 daughter, 8 months old

How old were you when you had your first child?

29

Do you remember your initial reaction when you found out you were pregnant?

Anxious, I had been waiting for a positive for some months. I feel like I was born to be a mother.

What first comes to mind when you think of mental health?

Everyone is human and has imperfections. Advocate, Awareness, Break the silence, Social Justice.!!

Do you suffer from any mental illnesses yourself?

I would say that I am a high functioning depressed person. I internalize feelings which get me through the day, unnoticeable to others.

How was your mental health before you became a mama? How has motherhood changed or improved your mental health?

I feel as if I have always had Depressed feelings on and off throughout my life. When I was one year old my mother passed away and I never knew my father. This has been a struggle emotionally to me as I grew up. My grandmother who raised me passed away while I was in college. This has made me angry on and off for years. Overall, not having support with raising my first child, has negatively impacted me. I feel alone very often. This has caused me to be overweight for many years due to emotional eating. I have never let my internal feelings affect me on the outside (aside from weight gain). I struggle, but I live out my day to day life like normal. I go to work, develop realistic goals, socialize, and function like everyone else. Since motherhood, I did sign up for telehealth counseling – I just have not been consistent with it. I do have a goal of being consistent with therapy in order to learn how to verbally express feelings and concerns and develop positive coping skills (not sure when I want to be open though – maybe never). It honestly is a norm for me now.

Do you self-care?

Netflix and Cooking. For mother’s day, I will be making crab and shrimp boil with Blove’s seafood sauce.

Advice for other mamas…

Advice I would give is, “find what works for you”. Speaking from a first time mom perceptive, new moms get tons of advice. Some of it is GOOD and some of it is BAD. One thing a lot of people told me was to “sleep when my baby is sleeping”. I’m sure for some people that is good advice, but I would say how that is even possible when there is so much to be done!! So find out which advice works for you and forget about the rest. Everyone’s baby is different and every mom is different. Embrace it, and don’t worry if a piece of advice isn’t for you. You will learn what works for you!!

Let’s lighten it up!

What’s your favorite drink?
Dr. Pepper

Do you have a favorite book, movie, or TV show?
My favorite TV shows on Netflix is Shameless and Good Girls

What’s the cutest thing your kid has done?
She is starting to shake her head “no” at everything.

Do you have a favorite restaurant or snack?
I enjoy West African food, my favorite is a Liberian restaurant called Kendejah

Tell us your go-to song at the moment!
Honestly, I have not listened to music in a long time. I even drive in silence, I guess I will say it is a part of self-care as well.

Interested in being interviewed for Mothers & Mental Health?

Your voice and your story matter. Send me an email at tianiangelax@gmail.com with the subject INTERVIEW and I will get back to you as soon as possible.

As always, thanks so much for reading! Questions, comments, and feedback are always welcome. If you enjoyed this post, please comment, like and share! Make sure to check out my Instagram; @T_scorner and my lastest video on Youtube💋