The Depression Symptom I Overlooked

The writer discovered that her inability to think clearly was more than just 'adjusting to motherhood'

- Diane Leow

The trigger was a fight with my in-laws. About two months after I gave birth to my daughter in 2022, everything they did started grating on me. A casual comment about a table that hadn't been cleaned felt like a damning judgment on my ability to run a household. An observation that the baby's diaper needed to be changed meant I was a bad mother. I resented their help, even when I really needed it.

Perhaps the above scenario would be expected for those with a contentious relationship with their in-laws. But I'd lived with them for a year and we have a very close relationship marked by open communication and honest conversations. This shift, on my part, was entirely unexpected. I would lash out at them and my husband. And no matter what they said to me, I refused to back down.

It came to a head one night when I yelled at them for trying to help our new helper settle into my home. My husband couldn't get through to me and called up one of my closest friends, who cancelled all her plans and came over.