Summary: Welcome to episode 25 of the Chasing Bravery Podcast! This podcast is meant to be a platform for women to share their true narratives and discuss topics that we simply don't converse about enough. Today that topic is post partum depression, and my guest is Kristen Garzone. Kristen is a woman with many roles (sound like any of you ladies out there?) Kristen is a career woman, wife, mother, runner, friend, and so much more. Kristen is also a woman with a history of mental illness and post partum depression (ppd). Anyone flinch when they heard that- the mental illness, ppd thing? Maybe you didn't flinch, but you did get a funny feeling somewhere in your body. Maybe you felt funny because it was off putting to hear the words mental illness and post partum depression in connection with a woman who is smart, beautiful, capable, and accomplished. Regardless of what you feel, this is conversation that needs to be had. 1 in 5 women will experience a full blown maternal mental health illness, and this illness does not discriminate. There is no one person who is guaranteed to suffer- and no one person that isn't. I encourage you to listen, as this is a conversation that will ultimately leave you feeling inspired, informed, empowered, and maybe less alone. Kristen is currently honoring and remembering her friend Kristin who lost her battle with post partum depression in June of 2017 through a virtual 5k or 10k on mothers day weekend. All of the proceeds from this race will go towards Every Mother Counts. I am most certainly going to be taking part in this and I encourage you all to as well. The link to register can be found in the show notes of this episode. Stay tuned- this episode will be followed up with two more on the topic of Maternal Mental Health. I will release episode 26 this weekend with Dr. Berlin who is an expert in the area of MMH. Episode 27 will feature Peggy Tanous, who some of you may remember from season 6 of the Real Housewives of Orange County. Peggy sheds light on the fact that even a woman whose life seems ideal can still be gripped by this powerful illness, and the stigma needs to stop.
