This year I will be doing Total Warrior and The Great North Run to raise money and awareness for Action on Postpartum Psychosis (APP).

Last year my sister, Laura, experienced post-partum psychosis following the birth of her second child. I am fundraising for APP in recognition of the incredible support they provided her and others experiencing and recovering from the condition.

While we had limited knowledge of post-partum psychosis at the time, we had enough awareness to recognise some of the symptoms, which meant that we were able to help Laura access the care she needed quicker, and prevent an escalation of the condition.

During Laura's recovery I wanted to know more about the condition to better my understanding of what she was going through, about treatment and services available, and the best way of supporting her; and I found all of this through APP. I knew that if I needed to, I could speak to someone from APP for additional support and understanding; which was extremely reassuring.

I want to raise awareness of post-partum psychosis and the associated symptoms in hope that it aids quicker diagnosis and treatment for others. I hope to challenge the stigma that is attached to all mental health conditions, and to let others know that they are not alone, that it’s ok to speak about mental health and seek help as required.

Postpartum psychosis is a severe, but treatable, form of mental illness that occurs after having a baby and affects 1400 new mums in the UK each year.

Symptoms include:

Confusion or racing thoughts.

Feeling unusually elated, frightened or tearful.

Unable to or no need to sleep.

Beliefs that are unusual or concerning to others.

Seeing, hearing or sensing things that others can't.

 Action on Postpartum Psychosis (APP) is a UK charity. We’re here to make sure mums, parents and families are supported through postpartum psychosis. We offer information and peer support, facilitate ground breaking research, raise awareness and campaign for improved services. Our life changing peer support network helps women and families network affected by postpartum psychosis feel understood, supported and less isolated.

Thank you for taking the time to read this!!