Motherhood Archives

I Spoke in Public!

Thank you, Lianne Sauvage, for inviting me to share my mental health journey at Belmont High School's Mental Health Assembly! For my speech, I adapted content from My Bipolar Thoughts, my memoir work-in-progress. [...]

Kitt O'Malley2022-09-09T16:29:28-07:00May 26th, 2019|Categories: Acceptance, Bipolar Depression, Bipolar Disorder, Bipolar Parenting, Depression, Hypomania, Mania, Memoir, Mental Health, Mental Health Advocacy, Mental Health Blogging, Mental Illness, Mood Cycling, Motherhood, Psychosis, Psychotic Thought Process, Public Speaking, Stigma|Tags: #amwriting, acceptance, amspeaking, Bipolar, bipolar disorder, bipolar thought process, bipolar type II, mental health advocacy, mental health month, Public speaking, purpose|26 Comments

I Don’t Want to Write About #Suicide for #WorldSuicidePreventionDay

Poem recalling suicide of extended family member and my own suicidality at 18

Kitt O'Malley2017-09-10T10:00:41-07:00September 10th, 2017|Categories: Depression, Grief, Motherhood, Poetry|Tags: Grief Loss and Bereavement, loss, suicide, suicide prevention, world suicide prevention day|29 Comments

I do not whisper. I ROAR.
I do not whisper. I ROAR.

Bipolar Disorder, Bipolar Parenting, Depression, Disability, Hypomania, Mental Health, Mental Health Advocacy, Motherhood, Parenting, Recovery, Stigma, Vocation, Writing

I do not whisper. I ROAR.

Motherhood transformed me. My identity changed. Now it changes again. I have constantly reinvented myself over my lifetime. As a pre-med biochemistry major at UCLA, I was miserable and suicidal. Then I studied part-time [...]

Kitt O'Malley2017-09-07T13:09:58-07:00September 7th, 2017|Categories: Bipolar Disorder, Bipolar Parenting, Depression, Disability, Hypomania, Mental Health, Mental Health Advocacy, Motherhood, Parenting, Recovery, Stigma, Vocation, Writing|36 Comments

Review: Birth of a New Brain #PostPartumBipolar
Review: Birth of a New Brain #PostPartumBipolar

Bipolar Disorder, Bipolar Parenting, Depression, Involuntary Hospitalization, Mania, Motherhood

Review: Birth of a New Brain #PostPartumBipolar

Dyane Harwood thrilled me when she sent me an advance copy of her memoir, Birth of a New Brain: Healing from Postpartum Bipolar Disorder. (I pre-ordered it and was anxiously awaiting it’s October [...]

Kitt O'Malley2017-08-27T16:36:12-07:00August 27th, 2017|Categories: Bipolar Disorder, Bipolar Parenting, Depression, Involuntary Hospitalization, Mania, Motherhood|Tags: bipolar disorder peripartum onset, Book Review, Dyane Harwood, Memoir, postpartum, postpartum bipolar|18 Comments

Happy Mother’s Day!
Happy Mother’s Day!

Motherhood

Happy Mother’s Day!

Kitt O'Malley2017-05-14T14:04:45-07:00May 14th, 2017|Categories: Motherhood|Tags: Mother's Day|4 Comments

Time to Write Again?

Pre-Christmas Travel Writing I jump from one app to another. Jigsaw puzzle to reading to writing. Back and forth, writing and jigsaw. Uneasy. Jittery. Uneasy. Not at ease. Tense. Guilty. Dramatic, yes, but [...]

Kitt O'Malley2017-01-05T17:15:28-08:00January 5th, 2017|Categories: Bipolar Disorder, Caregiving, Dementia, Family, Hypomania, Migraine, Motherhood, Parenting, Self care|31 Comments

I'm at a Loss…
I'm at a Loss…

Bipolar Parenting, Caregiving, Chronic Illness, Dementia, Mental Health, Migraine, Motherhood, Parenting, Psychotherapy, Self care

I'm at a Loss…

My son has missed WAY too much school this year. He's attending a private school where he gets one-on-one attention and learns at his own pace, so he simply falls behind and the [...]

Kitt O'Malley2016-11-02T11:41:14-07:00November 2nd, 2016|Categories: Bipolar Parenting, Caregiving, Chronic Illness, Dementia, Mental Health, Migraine, Motherhood, Parenting, Psychotherapy, Self care|Tags: chronic pain|52 Comments

Nothering, Too Good, or Good Enough Mother?
Nothering, Too Good, or Good Enough Mother?

Caregiving, Migraine, Motherhood, Parenting, Self care

Nothering, Too Good, or Good Enough Mother?

Feminine Collective published Good Enough Mothering, a poem of mine about mothering a migraineur. Check it out: femininecollective.com/good-enough-mother/

Kitt O'Malley2016-10-16T16:02:03-07:00October 16th, 2016|Categories: Caregiving, Migraine, Motherhood, Parenting, Self care|Tags: codependence, exhaustion, migraineur|9 Comments

Wave the White Flag
Wave the White Flag

Caregiving, Family, Mental Health, Motherhood, Parenting, Poetry, Self care

Wave the White Flag

Need to write out the pain and exhaustion in my heart Pain and grieving my parents’ dementias Pain and exhaustion caring for my son Must back off both Must take care of myself [...]

Kitt O'Malley2016-10-07T13:16:08-07:00October 7th, 2016|Categories: Caregiving, Family, Mental Health, Motherhood, Parenting, Poetry, Self care|Tags: exhaustion|40 Comments

Cocooning
Cocooning

Caregiving, Family, Marriage, Mental Health, Motherhood, Parenting, Poetry, Self care

Cocooning

Cocooning Recovering from social demands From social interaction From caring for others My son My husband My parents From caring about too many From caring too much You may not hear from me [...]

Kitt O'Malley2016-10-06T13:41:35-07:00October 6th, 2016|Categories: Caregiving, Family, Marriage, Mental Health, Motherhood, Parenting, Poetry, Self care|Tags: cocooning, exhaustion, fatigue|21 Comments