Mood music

When it comes to mental health, Amy Sky believes in using metaphors to spread messages of hope.

For more than a decade, the Canadian singer-songwriter has used her craft to convey her struggles with postpartum psychosis and depression.

Sky, who has scored hits such as “Don’t Leave Me Alone” and “If My Heart Had Wings” has earned praise from an audience that yearns for support in a peaceful, kind, and respectful way.

“I was told that depression is the cancer of the soul,” said Sky, 47, who has two children. “I was treated well, however. But a lot of women are told to soldier on.”

Sky, who has placed four singles at the top of the Canadian charts, first experienced postpartum psychosis when her daughter was born 16 years ago. When her son was born, she thought she wouldn’t experience it again.

But she did—only this time, she was more prepared to deal with the worst of the symptoms.

“It can strike anybody at any time,” she said. “You can have horrible afternoons where you’re imagining things and hallucinating things. Then the next day you wake up and say, ‘I don’t feel so bad.’ There are mood swings.”

Since disclosing her personal struggles in 2004, Sky has spoken at charity fundraisers and made other appearances to spread awareness—an experience that initially was not easy. “When I first talked about it, I felt like, ‘Oh my God.’ I felt naked.”

Songwriting has been her most effective tool for reaching out. For her efforts, she receives fan letters and critical praise. “It’s therapeutic,” Sky said. “People are grateful. Now I realize there are things that I have to do.”

(This article was first published in Esperanza magazine in its spring 2009 issue)