The constant stress of being a parent can feel like a suffocating blanket. We have a name for that feeling: parental burnout. In this powerful episode of Despair to Desire, Jake shares his personal battle with depression and the paralyzing fear that he wasn't enough for his child. Drawing on his own experience, he reveals how our modern stressors trigger a primal response in our brains and explains the science of happiness hormones. Discover how one simple, daily action—what Jake calls the "Gentle Awakening Plan"—was his first step back to hope and healing.

In this first episode, join me as I share my journey as a new parent battling depression. I'll open up about the moment I realized I had to heal, the struggle with generational patterns, and the terrifying decision to break the cycle for my daughter. This is the story of how my despair slowly turned into a desire for a better life—for her, and for myself.