242. When Motherhood Breaks You Open: Postpartum OCD, Anxiety & Healing

Honeydew Me

Cassandra Anderson

Self-improvement, Education, Sexuality, Health & Fitness

4.8 • 533 Ratings

🗓️ 26 November 2025

⏱️ 50 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this week’s solo episode, we’re pulling back the curtain on our mental health journeys and talking about the parts we’ve never shared publicly. Cass opens up about what postpartum OCD and anxiety really looked like behind the scenes and Emma shares how her lifelong anxiety shaped the patterns she still works through today. From intrusive thoughts and panic spirals to the shame, the turning points, and the actual support that helped us get better, we’re breaking down what healing looked like in real time. It’s messy, honest, sometimes dark, and ultimately a conversation we wish we'd heard when we were in it. If mental health has ever knocked you on your ass (especially in early motherhood) this one is for you. We dive into: What postpartum OCD and anxiety looked like behind the scenes. Cass opens up about the intrusive thoughts, fear spirals, and emotional numbness that made early motherhood feel nothing like the highlight reel she expected. Emma’s long-term anxiety and the patterns that came with it. Panic cycles, overwhelm, and the instinct to shut down instead of sit with big feelings. Why both of us struggled to admit something was off. The pressure to look fine, the fear of being judged, and the mental gymnastics we used to convince ourselves we could handle it alone. The turning points that pushed us to get help. The honest conversations, therapy breakthroughs, and moments that forced us to stop pretending. The support and tools that actually helped us feel better. OCD treatment programs, medication, grounding routines, and small daily habits that made life feel manageable again. How healing shifted our identities and relationships. Rebuilding confidence, reconnecting with our bodies, and experiencing love and connection in ways that weren’t accessible in survival mode. ⁠Learn more about 1:1 coaching HERE!⁠ ⁠Get Honeydew Me Merch HERE!⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠Join our Patreon and access exclusive content (including a downloadable that pairs PERFECTLY with this episode) HERE! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello, you're a gem shine when the light grows dim.
0:04.3	See one, two, three, four, three, two, one.
0:08.0	Because no one can do it like who we do it, like who we do it, like we do it, like we do it, like we do it.
0:15.0	Hello.
0:18.5	Hello, anyone there?
0:20.3	Hello?
0:38.1	Hi, it's me, M. And this is Honeydumie Podcast. And I'm Cass, and we're so excited you're here. This is our podcast where we talk about sex, relationships, mental health, all of the things that feel a little sticky. We think they should just come so naturally, be so easy. And they aren't and they don't. And that's why we're here to hold your hand through it all, let you know you're not alone, and just like get
0:43.0	into the shit together. You know what I mean? And that's what we're doing today. That's what we're
0:47.0	doing today. We reflected back on our like sexual journeys a couple episodes ago. And because you know we love to say that everything is
0:56.2	connected. We also feel like it'd be good to kind of reflect on like your mental health journey
1:01.2	and the work or not that we've put into that and how that has shaped our relationships,
1:07.0	our sex lives, our quality of life and just kind of see the ways in which we could still
1:13.7	improve, but also share whatever tips, tricks, and tools that we've got gathered along the way.
1:19.0	Because we have different mental health journeys, I'd say.
1:22.2	I don't know if you've been able to tell from the five years you've been with us, but we have slightly different
1:28.8	mental illnesses going on. To be fair, on air, we sound a little bit similar. You do have more
1:34.5	OCD and more child than me, but in terms of anxiety. We like to share. In terms of our anxiety,
1:42.8	we do seem to sound a little similar.
1:44.8	But you are saying something really interesting right before we hit record about why you feel like it's good to talk about, like, mental health and having access to, like, a good mental health routine.
1:56.6	So can you say that again?
1:58.3	Yeah.
1:58.6	I think what you were saying about, like, lack thereof in terms of like what we put into our mental health is so poignant for me because I thought I was working on my mental health for fucking years.
	...

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