The inspiring story of Anupriya Kapur, a single mother, who fought her postpartum depression through running and encouraged many to speak up about their postpartum depression.
“How can you be depressed? Everything is going fine for you, why do you feel this way?” These are just some of the questions that people close to Anupriya asked her as she struggled with life after becoming a new mom!
But life was not the same for Anupriya Kapur. From being a carefree 24-year-old, she turned into someone struggling with emotions and being an agitated, angry mother a couple of years later.
Like many new moms, Anupriya Kapur was suffering silently with postpartum depression for over five years after the birth of her son before realizing that she needed to seek help.
But sadly, Anupriya isn’t alone. The sad ugly fact is that 1 in every 7 women suffers from postpartum depression. And, most of us tend to either ignore it or we are asked to suffer in silence as people say it’s just in our head!
Pregnancy results in a surge in hormone levels, however just after delivery this dips, and this sudden change may lead to depression among new mothers.
While talking to TBI, Anupriya Kapur, a single mother, recalled her mental state during the difficult phase of life, which almost lasted for 5 years – being angry, sad, and frustrated for no apparent reason. She says,
“There are some nights even now when I wake up thinking about how I was back then. A child doesn’t deserve that kind of anger at all. I shudder thinking about how I used to raise my hand on him. I was just so frustrated. I would hit my son and then hit myself for having done that to him.”
The symptoms of postpartum depression are many and vary from person to person. It could range from agitation to sadness to unexplained crying to feelings of hopelessness or worthlessness. If postpartum depression is untreated for a long time, it could even lead to suicidal thoughts. Recalling the days she found herself contemplating suicide, Anupriya says,
“I would stand at the balcony and keep looking down, wanting to jump. That was when I told myself that I needed to take charge and do something about it.”
As a society, we are not comfortable having conversations about depression and mental health. Unfortunately, the sufferer has to suffer even more because of this behavior.
When Anupriya gathered the courage to seek help, she met with a lot of surprised and shocked looks! She was asked zillions questions about how she could be depressed? or How could she even feel that way?
It became clear to Anupriya that she needed to fight this on her own. She wanted to overcome Postpartum Depression, without any medication:
“I have seen what medicines do to the body and I was sure of not wanting to go down that path”.
According to Anupriya, meditation and running are the two things that saved her. She started meditating for 20 minutes a day and also took to pranic healing.
“I used to think meditation is a fancy thing rich people did. I don’t think I have ever been more wrong about anything in my life.”
While meditation helped her steady her mind, Anupriya started running to channel her physical energy. Over the past few years, Anupriya has changed her life completely. She has participated in 2 full marathons, several half marathons, and 10 km, including the Bengaluru marathon. Recalling how running turn into an addictive healthy hobby she shares:
“Running is addictive. The endorphins that are released when you run is amazing,”
Finally, she shares an important life mantra for all the mothers.
“We all need to pursue a hobby, that one thing that you do just for yourself. That can keep changing over the years. One shouldn’t be living just for our children. I think it would be a great disservice to our children if we did that.”
At IFORHER, we do celebrate the courage of Anupriya for rescuing herself from postpartum depression by accepting the fact that she needed help. It is very important for our society to understand that postpartum depression is a real issue. It is as serious and as real as any physical medical condition like heart issues or diabetes.
Many mothers struggle with this issue for most of their life as they are not ready to accept that they need help. Like any other ailment, post-partum depression could be cured with medication, therapy, or interventions. But, the first step of healing starts with realization – the acceptance that you need help.
Anupriya can be reached through her Facebook page.