Because I'm Not Myself, You See by Ariane Beeston | Black Inc.

Because I'm Not Myself, You See: A Memoir of Motherhood, Madness and Coming Back From the Brink

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About the author

Ariane Beeston

Ariane Beeston is a former child protection caseworker and psychologist with NSW's Department of Communities and Justice. She was a staff writer at Fairfax Media's Essential Baby and Essential Kids and has also published articles …

More about Ariane Beeston



Praise for Because I'm Not Myself, You See

‘Both riveting and informative, this is an unflinching look at what it is like from inside postpartum psychosis. Writing with insight and compassion, Beeston weaves in research on perinatal mental health and society's attitudes to motherhood alongside her own (impossible) determination to be the perfect mother.’  ––Anne Buist, Professor of Women’s Mental Health, University of Melbourne, and co-author with Graeme Simsion of The Glass House

‘Ariane Beeston's honesty, poetry and wisdom will save lives. This book is a vital contribution to a reality of some motherhoods that is so often overlooked in favour of stigma, shame and misunderstanding. With insights like Beeston's, we stand some chance of shifting the conversation around psychosis and recovery.’ ––Anna Spargo-Ryan, author of A Kind of Magic

‘Blistering, beautiful, true: Ariane Beeston exposes the myth of new motherhood as a loved-up dream, revealing how the transition to motherhood is sometimes a perilous one, and love for our babies hard-won. Written with a careful brilliance, it makes a case against secrecy and shame, and advocates for honesty, empathy and love.’ ––Susan Johnson, author of From Where I Fell and Aphrodite's Breath