Today we’d like to introduce you to Rachelle Haime.
Rachelle, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
After giving birth I was diagnosed with postpartum depression and it was possibly one of the scariest and loneliest things I have ever experienced. At the time, like most women who go through ppd, I felt there was something wrong with me. In the beginning I was ashamed and I battled my emotions on my own. It took me months to finally realize I couldn’t do it alone and I sought out professional help. The biggest thing I took away from therapy was that I needed to remember to nourish myself. I learned what activities helped me feel better and made a conscious effort to make them part of my life. Everything from exercise, to spending time with friends, to mindfully enjoying simple moments. Once I figured out what worked for me I made it a priority to carve out the time for self-care. With this I also learned how to sense I was getting close to falling back into depression, and am still very aware of it even today.
Years after my ppd a friend of mine taught me about the empty cup theory and it really resonated with me. “We cannot pour from an empty cup.” We cannot nourish others if we ourselves are not nourished. I started living by that full cup theory and my blog “The Plentiful Cup” was born.
I want to help get rid of the comes along with mental illness. The more we talk about it, the faster we stomp out the stigma.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Everything I write is 100% me, and when you put yourself out there like that it can be scary because you don’t know what kind of response you will get. I have had people try to discourage me from being so open. I have also had people approach who believe that postpartum depression is not actually a thing, because it’s impossible to not be completed thrilled about being a mom. I don’t let it get to me though because I have also met so many inspirational and supportive people on this journey that the positive outweighs everything else.
The Plentiful Cup – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
I am a blogger. My blog and social media is all about nourishing ourselves, and how important it is to do so, particularly as moms.
Self-care is so important to our mental health and as moms our self-care normally comes last. We gladly do everything for our families, but then what happens to us? We slowly drain our cup because we put ourselves last. Even when we do take time to care for ourselves we feel guilty about it. That has to stop. Our mental health depends on it.
There are so many of us that keep quiet for so long because of the stigma attached to not only maternal mental illness, but mental illness in general. A lot of women who battle maternal mental illness do it alone because we feel we have to hide what we are going through or we will be considered bad mothers. I wanted to share my story so people who might be going through postpartum depression can know they are not alone, that asking for help shows strength, and that self-care for the sake of our mental health is not selfish.
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
I define success as being able to do something you are passionate about. Doing something that helps others. Doing something that fulfills you.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.theplentifulcup.com
- Email: rachelle@theplentifulcup.com
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