Mum's Honest Post Reveals Reality Of Parenting With Depression
"Have that melt down, let your kids eat the crap out of that cereal and take care of yourself always.”
By Staff writers
January 31 2017
A US mum opened up about her battle with anxiety and depression.
Cierra Lyn Fortner was motivated to share her story on Facebook after a woman at Walmart praised her for seemingly “having it all together”.
Giggling at the comments, Fortner decided there’s more she wanted the woman to know about her.
“I want her to know I battle a personality disorder every day with anxiety and depression mixed and I'm a two times suicide survivor.
“I want her to know that I can't always get myself up off the couch to feed them anything more than frozen pizza and cereal.
“I want her to know that my son is late for school 3 out of 4 days because I regularly forget what day and time it is, despite the toddler size calendar in my kitchen.”
Speaking to The Huffington Post, Fortner explained that she was diagnosed with depression and anxiety after her mother died in 2010.
In 2011, she had her first son and experienced postpartum depression.
“After having him, I had my first suicide attempt as ... postpartum depression was added in and I had an extremely rough time with it.”
“I wasn’t diagnosed with the personality disorder until my second suicide attempt in April of 2014.”
The mum of two says she felt like “worst mum on the planet”, but with the help of her husband and support system she realised that wasn't true.
Now, Fortner hopes parents reading her story won't feel so alone.
“I don't know a mother out there that has it all together but everything we do is done with love for our children and that right there makes you the perfect mum and in our children's eyes we most definitely have it all together,” she wrote.
“From one exhausted mum to another, you're doing great, have that melt down, let your kids eat the crap out of that cereal and take care of yourself always.”
