06/05/2026
World Mental Health Day- Day 3 of Maternal Mental Health Week 2026.
Raising awareness of Perinatal Mental Health by sharing personal stories of recovery.
This is Rebecca's story of how photography helped her.
The photography project I was involved in, it was a bit random, I just stumbled across it by chance....... I've never done anything like it before. But I was 3 months postpartum and felt like I was going crazy and needed something to do that wasn't breastfeeding or changing nappies. The photos themselves are not good photos and probably don't make much sense to someone else, but for each person taking part, they tell a story. We were given a notebook to journal our thoughts about each photo. We were provided with a disposable camera so had 36 shots. And we knew at the end of it our work would be displayed at an exhibition and in a physical book. There was something therapeutic about the process, using a 35mm camera, not seeing what we'd taken until it was developed, and going out into nature and looking and being present, it was a welcomed distraction from the thoughts in your head at that time.
I know stuff like this isn't for everyone but I just found the whole process of being creative and journaling and being outdoors really helped me. I think I really struggled with the loss of identity when I became a Mum, and although they're just photos, it gave me something to do that was for me. And it's funny now because when I look at each photo, it transports me back in time, I can vividly remember what I was thinking and feeling at that time and it's a reminder how far I've come.
What a wonderful description of how photography helped mental health recovery, identity and self. Thank you so much for sharing.
