I Kept This Secret Out Of Shame. Now I’m Telling The Truth Many Black Women Know Too Well

“When I found myself anxious, disconnected and emotionally exhausted, I convinced myself I just wasn’t cut out for motherhood.”

There is no doubt that Naomi Osaka is blossoming again. During media day ahead of the Mubadala Open in Washington, D.C., this week, she spoke with renewed confidence about trusting herself. And she should. Osaka has put together one of the strongest stretches of tennis since becoming a mother.

This is despite struggling with a bout of postpartum depression she called “extremely bad” in her documentary, Naomi Osaka: The Second Set.

She said: “...During those early months, I felt like a shell of myself at all moments of the day. I no longer knew who I was anymore. It felt like everyone else had moved on and they were living in colour. Meanwhile, my world was stuck in grey.”

Call it a parasocial relationship, but as Osaka continues to reclaim herself after childbirth, I find myself celebrating far more than her victories on the tennis court. Every outfit, every hard-fought match, every smile with Taylor Townsend is a reminder that Black mothers, like Osaka, like me, can make it through postpartum depression.

July is National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month, a reminder that while conversations around mental health have become more common, too many Black women continue to suffer in silence. We are less likely to be diagnosed and treated for postpartum depression and anxiety despite facing higher rates of stress, barriers to care and cultural expectations that tell us to just keep “locking........

© HuffPost