Mother with Perinatal OCD will be taking strides to destigmatise anxiety disorder
Often referred to as the doubting disease, Jade Learmonth will be running the AJ Bell Great Scottish 10km on Sunday 1 October to raise awareness about Perinatal OCD, a more common than thought type of anxiety that can happen during and after pregnancy.
Initially hesitant to ask for help, Jade remembers how this condition significantly impacted her life, especially in the early stages of motherhood when her daughter, Ava Skye, was just weeks old. After turning to her GP, and with the help of mental health charity Mind, she was diagnosed with Perinatal OCD last year.
“I felt alone, isolated & confused, and just didn’t understand what I was experiencing. I had graphic, intrusive thoughts, that were freezing me and making me cry. One morning at 2am I looked up my symptoms on Mind’s website and had that aha moment. I realised I wasn’t alone or crazy, and that so many other mothers were experiencing the same condition”. Playing a pivotal role in her journey to understanding what she was going through, the charity connected her with other mothers who had also experienced Perinatal OCD.
Jade not only hopes to get people talking about this taboo subject, but to also raise money for Mind via her just giving page. Reflecting on how running is now integral to her life Jade says, “It gives me not only fitness, but me time, and has been so important to helping me cope”.
Jade is in a great place now through therapy and running. Cheering Jade on will be her incredibly supportive family, partner Michael, and daughter Ava Skye, now 17 months.
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