I Brie-Anna R Streich am submitting a Voluntary Separation for a Hardship due to Post-Partum Depression. Ever since I decided to join the military I have had issues with my family being unsupportive of my choice. This continued through basic training, tech school, and my permanent duty station, Malmstrom AFB. After getting to Malmstrom I found out I was pregnant with my son, Bently. As much as I did not want it to affect my work I couldn’t help but feel I was not there for my son. My husband and I decided it would be beneficial for him to join the military as well due to the financial stresses we had encountered since being in Montana. Unfortunately, I did not expect the separation of my son and I to affect me so much. This has all only worsened
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The stress had increased my anxiety and depression to a new level. I knew that this third chance that I have given the military was not worth the lost time to my family, especially my son. I fell deeper into a depression, telling myself that I would be a terrible parent leaving him at such a young age. I still know for a fact that doing this to my son was not the right decision. When he is sick and vulnerable and needs me I can’t be there I and I have to put the Air Force first. This goes against what I was brought up to believe in. I know that being with my son, providing for him, is what I need to do; not just to help relieve my depression but for my son. Ever since I found out that I was pregnant I began to worry that I would not be able to provide for my son in multiple ways. Physically such as breastfeeding and mentally or emotionally. Therefore when it was just a few weeks before I had to return to work I was emotionally drained and struggling to provide nourishment for my son as I was not producing enough for him. I knew as soon as I had to go back to work I could no longer produce enough because it was physically impossible. So forcefully I stopped breast feeding which tore me apart. I felt useless and knew that my decision of staying in the military would forever stay with me because I could not provide my son with what he needed. Then I knew I needed to seek help but I did not want to because I had always thought I was too strong willed to have post-partum depression. I didn’t want to portray that I was weak to my family so I kept it to myself for a while until my husband had left. It finally hit me that the strong thing to do was find help so I went to the MFLC and spoke with an advisor. She directed me to seek medical help. The next day (July, 2016) I went to my
The stress had increased my anxiety and depression to a new level. I knew that this third chance that I have given the military was not worth the lost time to my family, especially my son. I fell deeper into a depression, telling myself that I would be a terrible parent leaving him at such a young age. I still know for a fact that doing this to my son was not the right decision. When he is sick and vulnerable and needs me I can’t be there I and I have to put the Air Force first. This goes against what I was brought up to believe in. I know that being with my son, providing for him, is what I need to do; not just to help relieve my depression but for my son. Ever since I found out that I was pregnant I began to worry that I would not be able to provide for my son in multiple ways. Physically such as breastfeeding and mentally or emotionally. Therefore when it was just a few weeks before I had to return to work I was emotionally drained and struggling to provide nourishment for my son as I was not producing enough for him. I knew as soon as I had to go back to work I could no longer produce enough because it was physically impossible. So forcefully I stopped breast feeding which tore me apart. I felt useless and knew that my decision of staying in the military would forever stay with me because I could not provide my son with what he needed. Then I knew I needed to seek help but I did not want to because I had always thought I was too strong willed to have post-partum depression. I didn’t want to portray that I was weak to my family so I kept it to myself for a while until my husband had left. It finally hit me that the strong thing to do was find help so I went to the MFLC and spoke with an advisor. She directed me to seek medical help. The next day (July, 2016) I went to my