A conversation with Jo Love

Of Mountains and Minds podcast

Meet Jo Love this week, for the final episode in series seven. Jo is determined to shine more light on the all too common yet devastating challenge of post-natal depression, and advocates for more support for mothers going through it, as well as other still-stigmatised mental health conditions. Jo is an award-winning mental health campaigner, writer and speaker, standing up for the whole spectrum of mental illness that so many women struggle with through the major phases of life, especially motherhood. A former laywer, Jo worked in London for many years, living life at a whirlwind pace and slowly becoming affected by the aggression and stress in modern lifestyles. Jo has suffered with depression and OCD since she was young, and when she became a mother five years ago her mental health began to crumble dangerously, to the point she felt suicidal and began making plans to end her life. Jo tells us about how her OCD manifested, through dermitilomania, obsessive checking and compulsive, intrusive thoughts. A highly distressing and debilitating cocktail of conditions. With searing honesty, she shares what the darkest days of her post-natal depression were like, and what it took to start the road of recovery – which is far from linear and is a lifetime mission. We also explore the power of dismantling core beliefs stemming from childhood; the sanitisation of mental health and experiences that are still stigmatised and misunderstood; the loss of self that can manifest through motherhood; and recovering from the trappings of perfectionism.