A bit about this newsletter….

1) Why are you writing a newsletter instead of  sleeping or drinking a nice glass of wine?

To share news in the form of a letter with you. Mostly because no one in my house gives a shit about my news. They only care about snacks and going to the fucking park. Of course, there is a big chance that you don’t give a shit either. And you’ll get so bored reading this that you click on a Google Ad just to get away from me, in which case you just made me 0.000001p which was all part of my plan, SUCKER!

2) What will be IN this newsletter?

On a good day I’ll share the important stuff I have been writing like this investigative piece about  a mysterious condition my children develop as soon as I switch off their light and say goodnight – you can check it out here ↓

Kid perfectly fit and well all day has 6,000 ailments at bedtime

And also this piece about my current bag situation…link below ↓

Woman’s handbag basically a dustbin with leather handles

I might even tell you about things i wrote that will be on the actual TV like this:

OR, on a bad day I might just email you a shopping list or a picture of my left foot.

There’ll also be some AMAZING  poetry like this….

SHIT
Sometimes
it’s ok to lose your shit
because if you keep your shit
you’ll end up full of shit
and you’ll explode
and there’d be shit everywhere
A shit storm
And nobody wants that.
– Emily-Jane Clark

— Emily-Jane Clark (@EmilyJaneClark) August 27, 2019

I might also talk a bit about sleep and kids because that is probably how some of you got here. Although, my kids go to sleep now (so that’s the Sleep is for the Weak sequel down the drain) I still have a little bed crasher but let’s gloss over that. BUT I ‘m still TIRED . Mostly because I lie awake thinking about all the stuff like this

3) Is this entire newsletter just going to be about this newsletter?

of course not. In fact, it’s about to get really exciting.

4) The exciting bit

I am doing a NEW newsletter!  (sorry).

5) In other news..

A lot of people have messaged me asking whether I am writing another book. The answer is YES but it won’t be about sleep  because as I may have mentioned my bastard kids have started sleeping now. I suppose i could have another baby…but I am way too tired and busy and just really don’t want another baby.   I am currently working as a comedy writer (or writer of bollocks for money as I call it) for various places including The Daily Mash and Mash Report (NEW series starts in September by the way) in between writing a novel for early readers (because I promised my kids I would write something with NO swearing in it) and a non-fiction book full of all the random poetry, dialogue and nonsense I scribbled in my diary during the first few years of parenthood  …AND a sitcom so you see, definitely no TIME to have a baby for my art…

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Emily-Jane Clark (@emilyjane.clark)

And that’s about it for now!  Thanks for reading or fucking off to read all about that amazing mattress you saw on Google ads.

PS: My FIVE STAR (go me!) rated book Sleep Is For The Weak- which is an antithesis to baby sleep advice – is available on Amazon right now..

The post Breaking news for bored or broken people appeared first on SLEEP IS FOR THE WEAK.

They are also symptoms of depression.

This coupled with the fact that depression can lead to exhaustion and exhaustion can make you feel low is why so many cases of postnatal depression go undiagnosed.

The mother often believes she is just totally and utterly shattered and that she’d be fine if she could JUST GET SOME BLOODY SLEEP!

I was that mother.

I felt awful after I had my first baby but as she woke up at least every half an hour during the night,  I was convinced I was just really bloody tired.

I was bound to feel low, living on so little sleep, right?

People kept telling me I just ‘needed a good night’s rest’, but the thing was, even after I had managed to get some rest, I still felt exhausted, anxious and depressed.

By the time I was diagnosed with postnatal depression (PND), I was really unwell and I wished I had got help sooner.

When I had my second baby, I was sleep-deprived but fortunately, I did not have PND.

With two daughters under two I was still exhausted, anxious and depressed but it wasn’t as all-consuming and I could see beyond it. I didn’t feel so hopeless.

Although some traits of PND and sleep-deprivation are similar –  my healthy mind and my unwell mind responded to those symptoms in very different ways.

Every single case of PND is very different, but this is how I could tell the difference:

PND VS SLEEP DEPRIVATION

PND: I can’t sleep. Even when the baby is actually asleep.

SLEEP DEPRIVATION: The baby is asleep so I can sleep

PND: I still feel tired even when I have slept.

SLEEP DEPRIVATION: I feel so much better after a good night’s sleep. My baby is not sleeping because she’s a baby and it’s what they do

PND: My baby is not sleeping at night because I am a crap mother.

SLEEP DEPRIVATION: My baby isn’t sleeping at night because she is a baby and it is what they do.

PND: I am struggling with motherhood because I am a weak person.

SLEEP DEPRIVATION: I am struggling with motherhood because I am really bloody knackered. But I’m only human.

PND: I can’t cope any more.

SLEEP DEPRIVATION: I can’t cope until I have had coffee. Then it will be hard but I will cope. Just like I did yesterday and the day before that.

PND: I hate myself.

SLEEP DEPRIVATION: I hate being sleep-deprived.

PND: Everything is shit and it will be forever.

SLEEP DEPRIVATION: Sleep-deprivation is shit, but it will pass.

PND: I am a failure.

SLEEP DEPRIVATION: I am exhausted. Motherhood is tough. Newborns are hard work.

It’s possible you’ve had stitches in your lady bits, you have piles and you haven’t slept. Plus, there’s those raging hormones to deal with.

So it is inevitable you will not be happy all of the time.

But this doesn’t mean you are NOT happy to have a beautiful baby. It means you are human and humans do get tired, stressed and overwhelmed. It is completely normal.

However, if it does NOT pass, if you are sleeping yet still feel rubbish, if you constantly feel hopeless, low, numb or fearful for the future then talk to your GP or health visitor.

THE BOOK:  There is also a whole chapter on this in my book Sleep is for the Weak: How To survive When Your Baby Won’t Go The Fzzk To sleep. Hardback  copy on Amazon right now!

The post Sleep-Deprivation VS PND: Depressed or tired? appeared first on SLEEP IS FOR THE WEAK.