Being a mother while having anxiety, or any other kind of mental illness, can sometimes be a very difficult thing to handle. I interviewed a local mother of 4 who deals with anxiety on a daily basis.
Childhood
Anxiety can start at any age, from 10 to 50. For this one mother though, she realized she started to develop anxiety at around the age of 13. She was always with her mom and rarely left her side. Her mom then decided to give her medication for her anxiety, but she didn't like the way it made her feel so she stopped taking it. I asked her if she was worried about it when she was younger she said, "I wasn't really worried about it, I thought it would be something I would soon just grow out of."
Marriage
Later on in life, she met her now loving husband. When they first met, her anxiety came out periodically. "One thing I always hated doing was going on the highways like I-95 or driving in the rain." Driving on highways or in the rain is actually one of things that most people with anxiety are most worried about. I then asked her is she was afraid of having kids and she laughed while saying, "Yeah, I didn't even want to have kids."
Life Now
This loving woman is a mother of 4 amazing kids. She says that having kids actually made it worse because it's wasn't about her anymore, it was about her kids. "When they were younger, it was bad. Then it got somewhat better, but now that they're older, it's gotten worse." The last question I asked was if she had any advice for mothers, or future mothers, that struggle with anxiety and she replied, " Have your family understand what it is and how you feel, make sure you tell them early on. Others are very supportive, as long as you allow them to be."
Being a mother is an incredible privilege. Anxiety is a hard thing to face and it can cause some to not want to have a family and live their lives to the fullest. Having a family can make it worse, but it can also make it better. Having a family can help because they understand what you may be feeling and are able to make you feel better. So moms, all over the world, anxiety is only a small battle in your life, a life that is full of wonders and endless possibilities.