Post-Partum Mood Disorder
Sometimes people can be such idiots.
M., Finn and I go to a weekly support group with other parents led by a facilitator. We talk about preset topics and one of them is post partum mood disorder. A good thing to address, right?
Maybe not, according to our group leader. She announced that she wanted to shorten the discussion around PPMD because we're all past three months and therefore no longer at risk for PPMD.
WTF?????
This was said after I told the group how I was withdrawing from Zoloft. And that I'd started the Zoloft because of post partum issues. I mean REALLY...how stupid can you be?
Post partum mood disorder is something that truly needs to be daylighted. It's something that can happen any time in the first year. And by acting like making it through the first three months somehow makes people immune is naive as well as discouraging the dialogue that needs to happen around PPMD. Imagine if you were a mother struggling with PPMD and heard this woman declare that you didn't really have it because your baby was older than three months. Yet another obstacle preventing people from seeking treatment.
Luckily our poor leader has M. and I to contend with. We're annoying, passionate and educated. We set her straight.
posted by Sacha @ 9:51 PM
5 comments
5 Comments:
Glad that you are both strong and able to speak up for yourselves!!!
I'm glad you corrected her. My partner was diagnosed with ppd when our baby was 7 months. It seemed to coincide with her weaning him from breastfeeding. We don't think she had it before that. So, yes, it can definitely happen any time in the first year and it is definitely something that should be talked about.
Lurking and commenting...
I'm really glad you said something. With my first son, I didn't have any issues at all. With my second, oh boy! Honestly, that experience made every other time I said I was depressed, look like a good day. Like you, after a few months I decided to ease off on the drugs and quickly found out that was a bad idea. It took a long, long time to get past that.
You go girls!!
I didn't know enough about ppd to know it was a problem for me. It wasn't until I lost it at 1 year post partum that someone finally explained it to me. What a disservice to the group to try and avoid this topic!!
Good for you!!!
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