How A Mom Makes Sure Her Young Daughter Eats When She Feels Too Depressed To Feed Her
“I really hope that this helps someone struggling.”
Russamee | Shutterstock Depression is an awful disease. Many who suffer from it find it difficult to complete the most basic of tasks, especially when they are feeling the worst.
This can make it hard to take care of yourself and others — especially if you are a parent.
One mother is fighting back against her depression and taking good care of her daughter by making sure she has food to eat, even when she doesn’t feel like preparing it.
TikTok creator Tierra Jade recently shared how she takes care of her daughter, even when she is in the midst of a bad depressive episode.
“So, one thing I’ve learned about my depression since being diagnosed is that I have to be proactive and do my best to get in front of it,” she said in a video while unpacking groceries.
“Typically, I have depressive episodes on the weekends because if I’m not productive, I will literally just fall into this depressive state where I cannot do anything, so I have to make sure that my daughter eats,” she explained.
Tierra was very honest about her battle with depression and how it affected her life. “For a long time, when my depression first started, and I didn’t know how to manage it, I would feel like the worst mother in the world,” she said. “And keeping it real, keeping it honest, it used to be a struggle for me to do basic things — to feed my daughter, clean her, make sure her space is clean. I really struggled daily with providing her with those types of things.”
“So, in an effort to become a better mom, because my depression was making me a very horrible mother, I started doing things like this, which is, first, when I get off work on Fridays, going to the grocery store, loading up on easy foods that she can grab and feed herself throughout the weekend when I am down and out for the count,” she said while assembling sandwiches, washing strawberries and putting crackers in plastic bags.
“I am not a perfect mother; I am a trying mother,” Tierra insisted, “and I’ve learned how to work with what I have, and I will say that my depressive episodes are not as bad. They don’t last as long when I prepare for them.”
Tierra followed up on her powerful statement that she was ‘a trying mother’ in another video.
In a second video, Tierra talked about her relationship with her own mother, who at times she wished would “stop existing” when she was growing up. She didn’t want her daughter to feel that way.
“I will never tell my child that I’ve done the best that I could do,” she said. “I will always tell her that I tried. Because even me trying, though it may be the best that I could do, it may not be the best for her.”
Tierra explained that her own mother often told her that she did her best, and she came to hate that response, so her own daughter would never hear that from her.
Tierra said she tries to keep her daughter informed and help her understand in whatever way she can. She will say, “I just don’t feel good in my head, in my brain.”
Depression can make things like eating difficult.
According to the National Institutes of Health, “Depression … can cause severe symptoms that affect how a person feels, thinks and handles daily activities, such as sleeping, eating or working.”
To those who have never dealt with depression, it may seem unlikely that someone could struggle with such a simple activity. But putting a meal together can truly be overwhelming.
Tierra acknowledges her limitations and still makes sure that her daughter is cared for and fed, no matter how she feels.
That’s not just a sign of a trying mother, but a good one.
Mary-Faith Martinez is a writer for YourTango who covers entertainment, news and human interest topics.