Working Moms and diseases

by Netty 1 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  Netty

  I am not as sick now as I was say 4 years ago. But there were several years where I was so physically ill, I could not even lift my hand to brush my hair. Name it, I had it fibromyalgia, thyroid disease, panic attacks, irritable bowel syndorome, the list goes on. One doctor I went to go see about all this asked me "if you had your way, what career would you have right now" (I worked then and still do) I said I would not work, I am miserable in my life because I want to be a stay at home mom, and ther'es no way we can afford for me to quit working. It was then that I realized the correlation between mothers who are miserable because they have to work, and how that somehow destroys our health.

  I managed to find a job in my organization that is part time, and my health has improved, almost a full turn around.

  Has anyone else experienced this, or something similar?
• 

  jgnat

  The opposite happened to my daughter. She very much wanted to be with her baby girl after she was born, and by combination of employment insurance and stay-at-home student loans, she was able to stay home for over a year.

  However.

  She suffered from post-partum depression.

  It did not lift until she started working part-time and interacting with adults again.

  She figures, sometimes it is better for the mother's mental health to get out of the house a bit.

  I figure the lesson learned, Netty, is, not to stay in a place where you are unhappy. If you don't listen to your heart, then your body takes over. I know of at least two JW's who have contracted rare chronic illnesses that prevent them from going door-to-door. Perhaps JW's are more vulnerable to this, since they spend so much of their lives doing what they are supposed to do, rather than what they know, instinctively, is best for them.