“I was melting from the inside”: My struggle with postpartum anxiety

When my daughter, Clara, was 4 months old, I became mentally ill. The psychiatrist I’d called—following two fully sleepless nights, escalating panic attacks, lack of appetite, and the fear that I would never recover from the birth of my child—said I was experiencing a “moderate to severe episode of postpartum anxiety.” It didn’t matter that I had work (teaching and writing) I loved, or Danny, my kind and brilliant husband, or my perfect baby girl. Even wi