A mother who suffered from postnatal depression has said women need to be more open about their mental health.
Lunchtime Live has received a number of emails from listeners asking to have a conversation about the topic.
Aolish Gormley is a mother of two - a 10-year-old boy and two-year-old girl - and noticed things weren't right after the birth of her second child.
"It started when my little girl, who's two now, when she was about six months old," she told the show.
"I just started to notice a change in myself; I'm usually a happy, bubbly, positive person aside from the usual off days that we all have.
"These feelings that I was having I just found they were more intense and they weren't passing.
"As time passed, I could really feel I was just on a downward spiral - it has lasted days, weeks and then months.
"I just felt I was being consumed by these negative thoughts and feelings to the point where I even started questioning should I be here anymore?"
'Didn't want to be a burden'
Ms Gormley said she felt she couldn't share how she was feeling with others.
"That's no reflection on the people around me; I have a really loving supportive family and great friends," she said.
"I didn't want to be a burden on anyone and I didn't want to worry anyone.
"When you're feeling really down and questioning whether your kids would be better off without you... you're afraid to talk to somebody because you don't want them to think you're mad.
"Sadly, there's such a stigma attached to talking about our mental health.
"If it was our physical health, we don't hesitate to share on this - you'd nearly tell a stranger in a queue.
"But when it comes to talking about our minds and mental health, we feel the need to be kind of secretive".
Aolish Gormley. Image: SuppliedMs Gormley said things changed when she decided to go for a run one evening.
"I really believe now that actually that was my body and mind trying to work together to help each other to find a solution," she said.
"I ran 5k and I couldn't believe it and I just felt great.
"When I came home and went to bed that night, I felt a slight shift - I still didn't feel 100% but I felt a little bit better.
"I could recognise that there was something in that, that the running had done something for me".
Ms Gormley said she started to run more and also signed up to 5k races.
"I started thinking, ‘If my body can push through a hard run, then I can push through the hard parts of my life the same as I approach I run.’
"When I was running, I was thinking, 'This is good for my mind, this is good for me', and getting into the sea as well.
"I feel now they were the things that saved me: running and getting into the sea and just getting out there".
'Whole range of issues'
Michelle described suffering prenatal depression following the birth of each of her three children.
"It's very similar to postnatal in terms of you experiencing low mood for longer than two weeks at a time," she said.
"Things like heightened anxiety, heightened panic, feelings of hopelessness, fear around birth.
"Some of those fears around birth are very normal, but when it starts affecting your daily life that's when it becomes a problem.
"There's a whole range of perinatal health issues that we don't talk about.
"We've all heard the term post-natal depression, not necessarily postnatal anxiety or psychosis or OCD or the whole range of mental health issues that can show up."
Michelle said baby adverts with a "happy, smiling mother" forget to mention one important aspect.
"What we don't say is having a baby is exhausting physically, it's exhausting mentally," she said.
"It challenges all of your relationships, your whole way of life, how you work, how you socialise.
"Your whole support networks might change around that.
"It's the hardest thing I think anybody can possibly go through in terms of a life transition.
"It's being brave enough to say, 'I'm really struggling with this'", she added.
Research shows about one in eight women experience symptoms of postpartum depression after a birth.
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Anyone affected by issues raised in this article can contact Parentline on 01-873-3500. More information can be found here
