Megan Cassar – Community Engagement Lead at PANDA (Perinatal Anxiety and Depression Australia)

Anxiety and/or depression affects up to one in five women, and one in ten men, in the perinatal period (being the time from when you become pregnant to up to a year after birth). A fact provided by PANDA, the Perinatal Anxiety and Depression Australia organisation. And a fact that seemingly keeps being kept as a hidden secret from each other, amongst new parents.

There seems to be this misconception that it has to be absolutely extreme feelings or a major incident to seek help, and an ongoing dangerous theme that parents who are suffering tell themselves that “we’re fine”, rather than admitting when we are not.

Anxiety and depression can have more of a treacle effect rather than an immediate clear change. Where over time through inconsistent sleep, lack of consistent support, or inadequate healthy outlets for reprieve, the anxiety or depression can snowball into larger behavioural changes that effect you, and your family. So we try to understand the domino effect by talking to Megan Cassar, who shares her incredible story of her own mental health challenges that she experienced when having children, that led her to reaching out for help, and her profound career change of working for PANDA and helping others through her own learning experience.