The case is making headlines
A mother in Massachusetts killed her children
Her mental health is taking centre stage
The divide is already apparent
But should there be?
It’s a tale as old as time
Two individuals meet
Fall in love
Get married
Have children
But then it starts
For many mothers, it’s where everything starts and stops
Everything from daily care to the invisible mental workload and everything inbetween
Throw in a mental health condition, like Postpartum Depression or Postpartum Psychosis, it adds another layer
Mix in no village and it makes it harder
But it shouldn’t matter, right?
As long as she has a significant other, there’s ‘someone’ to help her
As long as she has a significant other, they can ‘trade off’ responsibilities; tag team it
As long as she has a significant other, she can ‘take a break’ when needed
As long as she has a significant other, she has someone to ‘lean on’
As long as…
…until she doesn’t
As long as…
…until she has breakdown because she’s the one carrying all the weight
As long as…
…until she gets slammed because she didn’t ask for help
Even though she did
A million times over
But no one paid attention
That is, no one paid attention until she starts to crack and begins to fall apart
The the criticism starts
She wasn’t doing enough to ask for help
Nor was she asking loudly enough
Even though she was
You just didn’t hear her until tragedy