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What happens when your mental health journey starts long before you ever consider becoming a parent? In this episode of Quiet Connection, host Chelsea Myers sits down with author and mental health advocate Sarah Michelle Sherman. Sarah opens up completely about living with Bipolar 2 disorder and ADHD, and how those diagnoses shaped her path to motherhood.

From the terrifying reality of early pregnancy loss to the agonizing decision to stay on psychiatric medications instead of breastfeeding—and navigating the public backlash that followed—Sarah shares the unfiltered truth of her experience.

This conversation is a beautiful, stigma-smashing reminder that taking care of your mental health is a fundamental part of taking care of your children. If you have ever felt isolated by intrusive thoughts, grief, or the heavy expectations of parenting, this episode will make you feel profoundly seen.

Key Takeaways

• Correct Diagnosis is Game-Changing: Sarah spent nearly ten years being treated for general depression and anxiety before receiving an accurate diagnosis of Bipolar 2 and ADHD, which completely transformed and saved her life.
• Prioritizing Parental Mental Health is Best for the Child: Choosing to stay on necessary mental health medications rather than breastfeeding is a valid, loving choice that allows a parent to remain stable and present.
• The Reality of Pregnancy After Loss: Experiencing a miscarriage can fundamentally change how a subsequent pregnancy feels, replacing typical milestones and excitement with intense anxiety and fear.
• Holding Two Truths Simultaneously: A parent can love their child completely while also finding the daily reality of parenting to be exhausting, overwhelming, and incredibly difficult.
• Writing and Truth-Telling as Healing Mechanisms: Sharing your story, vocalizing intrusive thoughts, and refusing to hide your reality can quiet the mind and build a vital community of support.

This episode discusses topics that may be triggering for some individuals. Please check the show notes for more information and be mindful of your own mental health and comfort levels.

Visit our Patreon to help support our mission to normalize the conversation and end the stigma surrounding PMADs!

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Special Thanks to Steve Audy for the use of our theme song: Quiet Connection

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If you're feeling stuck, frozen, or like everything around you is chaotic right now, you're not alone.

In this week’s Quiet Confession, I’m diving deep into a raw and rarely discussed side of postpartum PTSD: the "mundane" triggers that blindside us in everyday life.

Four years into my healing journey, I'm opening up about how my favorite comfort shows—like Friends and the Great British Bake Off—morphed from coping mechanisms into intense, OCD-driven rituals during my darkest postpartum moments and subsequent psychiatric hospitalizations.

I’ll share how these pieces of pop culture became deeply tied to my trauma, what it feels like to be unexpectedly activated by a theme song or a clip in the wild, and how I reclaimed my love for reading by learning to put the remote down.

We’ll also look at the practical DBT skills and grounding tools I use today to pull myself back to the present moment when a flashback hits. It’s a messy, honest look at the biological and mental hurdles of postpartum recovery, but a reminder: your feelings aren't silly, they're valid, and we’re walking this path together.

Key Takeaways

• Trauma Can Hijack Comfort Culture: Safe spaces like beloved TV shows can easily become tangled with trauma when used as continuous survival tools during an acute medical or mental health crisis.
• Compulsions Offer Only Temporary Relief: For perinatal individuals dealing with comorbid OCD, repeating specific rituals or keeping certain media on loop doesn't cure anxiety; it simply feeds the cycle by temporarily dampening symptoms.
• Letting Go Brings Grief and Glimmers: Dropping toxic coping skills requires facing a unique layer of grief, but it also creates room to rediscover old, healthy passions, like getting back into reading.
• Shame Is Unwarranted: Feeling intensely triggered by mundane aspects of pop culture can feel "silly," but physical and neurological trauma responses aren't something you can consciously control.
• The Power of Radical Grounding: Utilizing Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) tools like "dead end thinking" stop signs and the "what's not wrong" exercise can effectively break a trauma spiral.

Support the show

Special Thanks to Steve Audy for the use of our theme song: Quiet Connection

Want to be a guest on Quiet Connection - Postpartum Mental Health?
Send Chelsea a message on PodMatch

Send us Fan Mail

What happens when a high-achieving, structured project manager is completely stripped of control by motherhood? In this deeply moving episode of Quiet Connection, host Chelsea Myers sits down with Kanika, an engineering professional and MBA graduate turned Energy Coach. Kanika opens up about her intense transition into parenthood, navigating the early judgments of breastfeeding, and her son’s sudden medical and speech hurdles.

But the true catalyst for Kanika’s profound spiritual awakening came through the devastating loss of her daughter to stillbirth at 31 weeks. Kanika shares how this heartbreaking grief forced her to completely surrender her need for fixing, leading to an extraordinary, ongoing relationship with her daughter’s spirit.

From manifesting the perfect quiet Montessori school for her son to landing a dream corporate role without even applying , Kanika explains how cleaning your energy and choosing radical presence can completely transform your life and business. This conversation is a beautiful, grounding reminder that nothing is permanent, and that sometimes, the hardest moments in life are calling us back to who we were always meant to be.

Key Takeaways

• Dropping the Perfectionism Mask: True presence in parenting and business requires letting go of how things should be done and stepping away from the trap of constant control.
• Trusting Maternal Intuition Over Society: When navigating a child’s developmental milestones or medical challenges, a parent’s intuitive knowing is often the most accurate guide.
• The Power of Radical Surrender: Deep grief and unexpected life disruptions can serve as soul-level wake-up calls, breaking down our egos and opening us up to a broader universe.
• Energy Magnetism in Business: Running a heart-led conscious business is entirely about self-worth. When you clear your personal energy, your target audience naturally leans in.
• Believing Before Seeing: Whether waiting for milk to come in, fighting for your child's educational future, or surviving a mental health dark space, you must hold onto the belief of a better reality before it physically manifests.

Support the show

Special Thanks to Steve Audy for the use of our theme song: Quiet Connection

Want to be a guest on Quiet Connection - Postpartum Mental Health?
Send Chelsea a message on PodMatch