Being Grounded
Once or twice a week I work for a very special organization called NITZA, The Israel Center for Maternal Health. Located in Jerusalem, it provides psychological, physical and emotional support for women with postpartum depression. While I have observed that there are similarities between the women who come to NITZA, there are no concrete rules. A first-time mother is just as likely to come to the clinic as a woman who gave birth to her sixth child.
Coming to Grips with My Anxiety Disorder
I suffer from an anxiety disorder which includes bouts of clinical depression. Although this illness is usually hushed up and kept secret, one in ten people suffer right along with me, each in their self-imposed silence. I share my story with the hope of educating others to understand the dynamics of emotional illness and what it’s like to be caught in its tight grip. Perhaps as a result of my words greater sensitivity and compassion will prevail and others will react to a sufferer’s pain accordingly.
Just Nerves?
"Who told you to stop taking your meds, Moish?" His name was Yekusiel Shemaya Tuvia Moshe Wein. “But you can call me Moish,” he said, with an air of someone who’s been through it enough times that he reflexively explained, “I’m named for a few different elter zeides, and I was also born on Zayin Adar, so my father shlita thought it was a good name. But like I said, just call me Moish.”
The Sun Will Yet Shine
How could I wait while the world moved on and I was a ghost of myself — not a mother, not a daughter, not a wife? You know me. That woman in the grocery. The one with the freshly washed wig, crossbody, and trendy sunglasses. Super capable, a great multitasker. I was all of those things. Until I wasn’t. This is my story.
The Darkness Behind My Smile
I am laying against the wall with my fingers in my ears. My eyes are closed shut. I feel the pressure of my husband’s hand on my back. Holding my breath for a few moments too long, my teeth are clenched. I never knew I had so many tears. I never knew I could be in a world of people but feel like I am stuck in a box, alone, in the dark.
Yom Tov is Coming and All I Feel is Dread….
Summer is still very much in the air. The temperature is warm, we are still on a crazy schedule crazy schedule of no sleep, and we take a look at the calendar and do a double take. Really?!? Elul is almost over?!? Can Rosh Hashana be that close to NOW?
