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If you know something is wrong, wouldn\u2019t you want your doctor to listen? How does it feel to advocate for yourself with no success? My guest shares her story of dealing with postpartum depression for years while she tried to advocate for herself. Listen in to see how she finally found healing, and why she shares her story with honesty and openness.\nJessica Mirisis lives in Massachusetts and is the mother of three girls, ages 2, 6, and her stepdaughter, age 12. Jessica works as an RN and helps her husband run their two businesses.\nJessica battled several issues with maternal mental health for years, not getting the help she needed.\xa0\n\xa0\nShow Highlights:\n\xa0\n\nIn May 2012, her first daughter was born, about the time she graduated from nursing school, got married, and bought a house\n\nWith her pregnancy, she was sick all the time\n\nHer labor was slow and long, the baby came four days early, and she had low iron after the birth\n\nHer breastfeeding struggles for 6 weeks and then switching to formula\n\nHow her baby didn\u2019t sleep well and woke up every 3 hours to eat\n\nHer husband tried to tell her doctor that something was \u201coff\u201d\n\nHow Jessica continued to struggle with motherhood and going back to work\n\nHer frustration and anger that continued for almost 2 years\n\nAgain, she tried to tell her doctor that something was wrong, that she wasn\u2019t sleeping, and that she was angry and frustrated----but the doctor discounted her feelings\n\nWhy Jessica saw a psychiatrist and therapist on her own\n\nWith her 2nd pregnancy, the anxiety increased and the constant sickness returned\n\nWhy she had a scheduled C-section to avoid another long, hard delivery\n\nWhen her daughter was born, her in-laws came for an extended visit and Jessica still felt the anger and frustration\n\nShe started Zoloft, but wasn\u2019t getting any better an continued to go downhill\n\nThe wine rack incident that was the last straw\n\nWhy she switched to another psychiatrist\n\nAnother episode that scared her\n\nJessica\u2019s hard time functioning as a mom, with suicidal thoughts and desires to run away\n\nHow the psychiatrist suggested a partial hospitalization that helped immensely\n\nThe group sessions, where people actually listened and helped her\n\nJessica\u2019s youngest daughter was almost 2 years old before she started to feel better\n\nThe diagnoses: generalized anxiety, major depressive disorder, PTSD, and panic\n\nJessica\u2019s new \u201c8 pm rule\u201d and how it helps her every day\n\nHow journaling has helped her\n\nWhy she finally feels ready to return to work as a nurse and begin helping others again\n\nWhat Jessica wants others to know about postpartum depression: \u201cMotherhood is not all rainbows and butterflies. Take the advice of others, but make your own decisions.\u201d\n\nHer advice to others who may be going through postpartum depression: \u201cYou may not even realize what\u2019s going on. Talk to someone who can help and keep going.\u201d\n\nJessica\u2019s rules she lives by now in her recovery\n\nHow postpartum depression can affect the entire family---not just the mom\n\n\xa0\n\xa0\nResources:\n\xa0\nFind Jessica Leigh Mirisis on Facebook