Just back from a much-needed vacation and want to catch you up on the latest news from the world of postpartum depression:

• A small study has found that women with postpartum depression have higher levels of a chemical called glutamate in their brains. What’s interesting about this is that people with major depression, not PPD, tend to have lower levels of glutamate in their brains. This may indicate that PPD is very different from major depression. For more on this, read the story from WebMD.

• If you’re getting excited for the Olympics, let me give you one more reason: One of the athletes is a Warrior Mom. Lashinda Demus, who will compete in the 400m hurdles for the US Olympic team, is a postpartum depression survivor. Go Lashinda!!!!!!

• If you didn’t see it, earlier this week AOL promoted a video to help raise postpartum depression awareness featuring yours truly. Their You’ve Got videos generally reach around 1 million people, so I’m very excited to think about how many more women may have been reached with the message that PPD is temporary and treatable with professional help. Watch it here.

• The Postpartum Resource Center of New York will host its second annual Summer Gala on August 16th at Captain Bill’s Restaurant in Bayshore, NY. The event is an important fundraiser for the great resources and continued support offered by the PRC of NY to women in the state with perinatal mood and anxiety disorders. For tickets, click here.

• Everyday Health’s Around the Clock series recently tackled the topic of postpartum depression with a video featuring Kendra Wilkinson, Heather Armstrong and more. Check it out here. I appreciate that Kendra is honest about the fact that she didn’t reach out for professional help and wishes she had. I would have liked this video even more if more than just 2 out of the 4 women in it had been through PPD or a related illness (there are plenty of women who could have been great), and if they had offered links to real resources at the end, but still, it’s good to have more awareness. There’s never enough!

One more thing. I changed my Twitter handle. Did I tell you? It’s now @postpartumprog (without the “r” at the end). Just wanted to make sure you knew! 😉