Bree Scurti

Overcoming Postpartum Mood Disorders Through the Help of Community

In 2014, I found myself unexpectedly pregnant. I struggled with the idea of becoming a mother when all of my dreams were suddenly within my grasp. My husband and I had just quit our 9 to 5 job, moved to a Hawaii, and had begun to manage a gym. Having a kid was not in my cards, and I knew that having a child was going to make a lot of aspirations take a back seat. I suddenly became very aware that I was unprepared for life as a “real” adult. My husband, in an effort to obtain better healthcare, went active duty military and deployed almost immediately. All of a sudden I was pregnant, alone, and feeling the weight of the world on my shoulders. I struggled with health concerns during my pregnancy, and I plummeted into an unspoken (and therefore undiagnosed) darkness. Looking back now, I know this was perinatal depression. I didn’t speak of it, mostly because the fear of being “sad” or labeled frightened me.