Suffering the Blues - the aftermath of the wedding day

I spent 8 months planning our wedding day. Those 8 months of excitement, nervous energy and expectation followed 10 years of thinking about the day and dreaming about what it would be like. Then, in a blink of an eye, it was over. And I felt like ‘what now?’. I felt sad that it was over and had a sense of emptiness about what the future could hold for me. That said I am a bit of a drama queen (also bipolar…..) so I thought I was just being full of sh*t and I should just get over myself!

But it seems like I am not the only one (isn’t it nice when there are other sods just like you out there :-) )

It is estimated that 1 in 10 new spouses suffer to some extent from post wedding depression. It can range from a mild sense of sadness to feelings of remorse, loneliness, a sense that life after the wedding is mundane and meaningless and severe depression. These feelings can continue for months or just a week or two.

We spend so much time preparing for our ‘big’ day, that very special day in our lives that we tend to forget that there is life after the wedding day. The fact of the matter is that your wedding day is the day that signifies the start of a new relationship, a new family unit and a new life path together. But we tend to see the day as a marker of the end of an era, end of loneliness, end of singledom, the end of being Miss So-and-So.

If you are not married yet, make sure you allow yourself some time during the wedding planning stages to consider life after the wedding day. Make sure you will have something else to occupy your mind with (writing thank you notes does not count ;-) !!)

If you are not sure whether what you are feeling is post wedding blues, go to http://quiz.ivillage.com/love/tests/postwedding.htm and do the quiz.

If you are suffering from post nuptial depression and need some advise, maybe one of the following sites can give you some more information:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/relationships/couples/life_postwedding.shtml

http://newlyweds.about.com/od/afterthewedding/tp/Kick-the-Post-Wedding-Blues.htm

http://www.weddingpath.co.uk/wedding-blues

http://www.weddingguideuk.com/articles/features/postweddingblues.asp

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/248925/what_are_some_signs_of_post_wedding.html

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/81292/post_wedding_depression_transitioning.html?cat=23

And as always, please comment if you have a story to share?