Catherine Cho - Anxiety, Sleep Deprivation & Social Pressure

Catherine Cho is the author of Inferno: A Memoir.

We don’t have to have experienced stress induced postpartum psychosis to benefit from what Catherine Cho and I discuss in this episode. We talk about anxiety, sleep deprivation and social pressure and how these can be incredibly damaging…

Catherine experienced stress induced postpartum psychosis believed to have been brought on by the stress of anxiety, lack of sleep and strong cultural pressure. She was sectioned for 2 weeks and separated from her breastfeeding son when she started to see the devil’s eyes in her baby’s eyes. She had a complete lack of awareness of time and reality.

We discuss the fear of being a new parent and the vulnerability of the early days when everyone has an opinion on what is best for your child. She didn’t feel that her family or her husband’s family were particularly traditional, but this all changed upon the birth of their baby. In Korean culture, there is a 100 day celebration which marks a point of survival. Catherine didn’t see this day with her son. There were many months of recovery including depression and repairing and rebuilding a relationship with her child.

What started as a notebook during Catherine’s time in the psychiatric ward during postpartum psychosis, turned into the most incredibly written hyper aware book allowing us to understand how elements of her past have affected her and how through a gradual process of hanging on to her simple written truths, she regained her mental health. Catherine has been able to live a more aware life going forward.

When we delve into Catherine’s past which she shares in the book. It makes you realise how little you know about someone, especially when it comes to trauma buried in their past. As she says, “Everything leaves its mark”. Her family and closest friends weren’t aware of her previous abusive relationship. Even her own husband whom she had told everything to hadn’t really fully understood her past until he read her book.

You feel like you’re there on every step that Catherine took.

Finally, we talk about when mother’s don’t put themselves as a priority upon having a child. We recognise the sense that as a mother you ‘have to be’ this unconditional ever giving parent and sacrifices of every nature have to be made. We look at the never ending guilt that mothers feel for whatever they are doing is lacking somehow. The pressure put on us by society, often without the support of a genuinely supportive community around us creates an incredibly difficult experience for many women who are completely unprepared for what might happen after childbirth based on their past as well as their mental and physical health.

If you’d like to contact Catherine, she is available on:

Twitter: catkcho

Instagram: catherinekcho

Linkedin: Catherine Cho

The book Inferno: A Memoir by Catherine Cho is available to purchase here