New mum takes her own life after suffering from postpartum depression, her family speaks out in hopes of saving others.

*TRIGGER WARNING

Allison Goldstein family was shocked when Allison wrote a goodbye email that was several pages long, checked her 4-month-old daughter into a day care centre, drove herself to a dirt road, and took her own life.

They literally had NO warning, as Allison kept her depression to herself, and put up a good front that everything was just fine.

“I’m so sorry that I didn’t know how to describe this pain and seek help” she wrote in her goodbye email.

Her grieving family is breaking the silence hoping that by telling her story, they will save lives, even just one life would be so worth it.

“If this can happen to Allison, it can happen to anyone,” her mum Carol Matthews says.

“Just the days before, she was just the happiest, smiling,” said her father.

“To lose your sister and best friend of 32 years and you just didn’t see it coming,” Allison’s sister, Mallory Hudson, echoed. “I mean without a doubt, you did not see this completely normal new mom to just fall apart so quickly…I wanted red flags. I wanted big alerts.”

Her family is speaking out, urging loved ones and spouses of new mums to go the extra mile to make sure they aren’t also hiding a crushing, life-ending depression and pretending that everything is fine while secretly planning a permanent way out.

Postpartum depression and psychosis tells a new mum terrible lies about herself and her life—tells her that it will always be this way, and that there’s no way out, that her family is better off without her. It’s up to friends and families of new moms to be proactive and speak truth into their lives—even if we have no reason to suspect that anything is wrong.

It’s something Allison’s family wishes they had known enough to do—and it’s why they are putting their pain on display to encourage other families to ask new mums the hard questions about their mental health.

“The disease that it is lied to her,” Allison’s sister said. “It twisted so many of her memories about being a new mom, a wife — so many things — it just lied to her. And it’s awful, it’s scary, and it happens and it happens so much more often than we realize.”

As they help to care for baby Ainsley, Allison’s family will tell her how  much her mum loved her—and continue to bring awareness about postpartum depression to others.

If you are a new mum and feeling a bit blue, please reach out! PANDA 1300 726 306.

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Image via NBC 12