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When we think of postpartum depression, we usually think of a mom who is drowning in depression or a mom who just gave birth. But postpartum can take on many forms.
The stigmas around postpartum depression have left us with not enough knowledge about it that it makes people who have it suffer even more.
How can we know that we or the people we know have it? What if it’s the underlying cause of a bad mood, bickering, or impatience usually associated with parenting stress?
Listen to this episode as we interview Elizabeth Willard Thames, better known as Mrs. Frugalwoods.
Liz is the creator of the award-winning personal finance blog, Frugalwoods.com, and author of the book, Meet The Frugalwoods: Achieving Financial Independence Through Simple Living. In 2016, at just 32, she reached financial independence. She quit her job and left a successful career in Boston and moved to a 66-acre homestead in the woods of Vermont with her family in order to pursue a life of meaning and purpose.
Liz shares among other things how she knew she had postpartum depression. At first she resisted taking any medication but changed her mind later on. She recalls how her mental health and her relationship with her family improved because of it.
Plus, Liz talks about how postpartum depression affected her personal finances and how she manages her mental health today.
Lastly, Liz discusses who else can have postpartum depression and what are the other signs of it that people often see only as a result of stress from taking care of a newborn child.
What You Will Learn From This Episode
- Understanding of prenatal and postpartum depression
- How to recognize if you or someone you know is suffering from postpartum depression
- The importance of medication to help heal and manage postpartum depression
- Spending triggers when you’re depressed and how it can affect your financial health
- Who else can have postpartum depression (not just new mothers)
- Anger, workaholism, and perfectionism as other signs of postpartum depression
“The scary thing to me is that I did not recognize how bad I was and that I needed help. ” – Mrs. Frugalwoods aka Liz
“Don’t let your irrational fear of medication hold you back from truly healing.” – Mrs. Frugalwoods aka Liz
“I don’t think that I have felt normal really at any point in my adult life until starting to take the SSRI.” – Mrs. Frugalwoods aka Liz
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Timestamps
1:31 – Liz’s background – why they escaped urban living and what they do now
4:26 – What we can learn about her book “Meet the Frugalwoods”
6:19 – The hallmark symptoms of severe prenatal and postpartum depression that Liz experienced
11:01 – How Liz recognized she had a problem and needed professional help
13:44 – Why she resisted medication at first and tried to combat her anxiety by herself, what changed her mind and the prescription that helps her with her postpartum depression
16:01 – How her life changed after taking the medication, how you can find the right medication that suits you and understanding of how antidepressants and anti-anxiety medication work
26:50 – Liz’s experience when she admitted and revealed in public that she had postpartum depression and how it helped people understand and know more about postpartum depression
29:25 – How postpartum depression affected Liz’s financial situation – spending triggers
31:25 – Who else can experience postpartum depression and the not-widely known onset signs of postpartum depression (anger and workaholism)
36:07 – Recognizing if your workaholism and perfectionism are a manifestation of underlying mental health issues
38:47 – Ways to responsibly use your money to support your mental health
Resources:
- Martinis and Your Money Podcast
- FIRE Movement
- Meet The Frugalwoods: Achieving Financial Independence Through Simple Living by Elizabeth Willard Thames
Connect with Liz
Connect with Melanie
- mentalhealthandwealth.com
- melanielockert.com
- Contact: mentalhealthandwealthshow@gmail.com
