So many moms are struggling in silence. There are those who manage to hide their pain, guilt, and sadness with a happy, fulfilled, blessed mom front.

But behind her #blessed posts are thoughts of inadequacy, guilt, feeling not good enough to be a mom. Behind her seemingly perfect family life is a cry for help because she could be so darn exhausted, sleep deprived, lonely, and downright depressed.

The pressures of society on mothers are at an all time high, with social media showcasing the perfect lives of other moms who seem to have it all together. Plus with media promoting the premise that you can have it all -a successful career, happy well behaved children, a loving marriage, and a thriving social life. But this isn’t so true for some moms especially those suffering from post partum depression.

These comics strips by Karen Kleiman, founder and director of The Post Partum Stress Center shows how its really like to have post partum depression by exposing the unheard thoughts of a mother with ppd. The center recently launched a campaign called #speakthesecretcampaign which aims to shatter “the myth that all new mothers feel wonderful about being mothers.”

For the comics strip Kleiman collaborated wih illustrator Molly McIntyre to create images that show the silent suffering of mothers with post partum depression.

The comics highlight the need to promote awareness about post partum depression. People need to realize how serious the condition can get, how it can greatly affect the health of the mother and the baby, the marriage and the well being of the family as a whole.

We need to support mothers, and mothers need to support each other. We all need to create a culture of acceptance and understanding towards our struggles. We need to nurture an environment where moms who might be suffering from depression will feel free to open up about the reality of her struggles and reach out to others for help without fear of being ridiculed, shamed , or judged.