The Last Tablet

Tablet: Tablet (pharmacy), a mixture of pharmacological substances pressed into a small cake or bar, colloquially called a “pill” (Wikipedia)

So, it’s Sunday…and today is the day I take my last anti-depressant. Today is the day I am meant to be officially cured. No longer trapped and isolated and broken from PND. And although I feel ok, I don’t think I’ll ever be the same person I was before this vile illness took hold. A little bit of my confidence will never come back, an edge of anxiety will always be there in the distance, and the unbearable threat of the illness returning will always surround me.

But, for now I’m lucky enough to be ok, and to celebrate this last tablet (yes, for me it is definitely a celebration!) I am going to share with you a letter I wrote to myself several months ago. I was very very lucky to be put forward to go to a local art therapy group for mums suffering with PND. It was, as we all in the group felt, a lifeline. We all lived for Friday mornings, where our children were in the crèche and we were given time, and space, to talk, and be listened to. To not be judged. To not be made to feel like we were terrible parents. Where we drank tea, ate cake and got creative, each of us finding our own favourite creative tools. It was during the first of these sessions that we were asked to write a letter to ourselves, a wish list of everything we wanted, needed. And when the sessions ended it would be posted, for us to read.

My letter arrived in the post last week, and I haven’t opened it yet. It was so many weeks and emotions ago when I wrote it that it’s contents will be as fresh to me now as they are for you reading it for the first time.

So, today, after I have just taken my last tablet….here goes….

Dear ***,

I wish these things for you…

*child free clothes shopping
*the gift of acceptance (to not try and control everything)
*the gift of reading a book, uninterrupted
*some quality time with each of my children, independently
*8 hours of uninterrupted sleep
*the gift of just being, without analysing and criticising myself
*some quality time with my husband
*waking up when I am ready, not be woken up!
*confidence to go back to work
*quality ‘child-free’ time with friends
*an uninterrupted bubble bath
*time to exercise; for hobbies
*spontaneity!
*to wake up looking forward to the day ahead, even if I’ve nothing planned
*to feel good about the way I look
*to feel positive
xxx

Okay…wow…that was actually rather lovely, but also very eye opening to me. It was like reading a letter from a completely different person, and it’s so hard to believe that I wrote it. What first strikes me as I read this through is how trapped I must’ve felt, and how I felt I couldn’t do some of the things on the wish list, things which now I actually take for-granted. And as I read I notice how such trivial things are written next to some really quite serious things, but at the time there was perhaps no differentiation, all of these things seemed like desperate needs to me. Amazingly, I have been lucky enough to have been granted many of the wishes I wished for myself all of those weeks ago. I have done so many of the things I wanted to do. And I don’t feel trapped or isolated anymore, I don’t feel like everyday I am trudging through treacle in a midst of panic and desperation for it to be bedtime again so I could sleep and not feel anything, not have to struggle through.

Reading this letter has shown me how far I’ve come. And has granted me one last wish, the knowledge that I really am recovered, it has shown me I am one of the lucky ones, and that those little tablets which held me together for so long are now gone. And now I know…that last tablet…really was my last.

9 Comments on The Last Tablet

  1. Kate
    April 7, 2013 at 9:57 am (11 years ago)

    Congratulations on making it through to the other side! I hope everything on your list comes true for you 🙂

    Kate 🙂
    Just Pirouette and Carry On…

    Reply
  2. Helen Braid
    April 7, 2013 at 6:17 pm (11 years ago)

    Beautiful. I wish you bright days ahead x

    Reply
  3. muminahurry
    April 8, 2013 at 7:08 pm (11 years ago)

    Thank you for sharing this on my linky. Lovely post. So glad things have got better for you. I remember feeling exactly the same as you at the beginning when my babies were very small – more so with my first because I had a difficult birth and it took me a long time to recover and I suffered worse with PND that time. I know exactly how you felt. All I wanted was an uninterrupted bath! But that seemed so impossible even with hubby looking after baby – he’d bring him into the bathroom as baby just wanted me! Thank you again for sharing. Do you think you could put the code on there at the bottom of your post so people reading can link to the other posts?

    Reply
    • InstinctiveMum
      April 8, 2013 at 7:13 pm (11 years ago)

      Thank you for reading, it’s strangely nice when people identify with what I’ve written, even if it makes me sad that they’ve suffered too. I tried to put the code on my blog page earlier but my iPad was playing up. It’s on my list of things to do on the laptop tomorrow! X

      Reply
      • muminahurry
        April 8, 2013 at 9:16 pm (11 years ago)

        Fab thanks. xxx

        Reply
  4. itsamummyslife
    April 9, 2013 at 8:30 pm (11 years ago)

    What a beautiful articulation of the hope we all feel as we take that last tablet. Your list made me cry a little bit, it reminded me so much of me a few years ago. I made it out the other side and you will too. Thank you for sharing, this is an inspirational post. xx

    Reply
    • InstinctiveMum
      April 9, 2013 at 9:43 pm (11 years ago)

      Thank you,let’s hope we both stay out the other side! X

      Reply

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