This weekend I wrote a post about how the media so often gets postpartum depression wrong. It’s primarily because they don’t have enough knowledge. They don’t know how what they say, or what they leave out, can hurt moms.
Today presents another example of that. Ann-Marie from the blog Do Not Faint appeared in a story on Good Morning America this morning about mothers who take medication. Here is the segment:
Anne-Marie was less than pleased with how the segment came out, and wrote a blog post about it in response. Here’s some of what she said:
At worst, your piece came off as pressure to use meds only in emergencies and to get off as soon as possible … I am not only disappointed, I am angry on behalf of the mothers you shamed today. Now, many of them will have to answer questions like, “Do you really still need medication? Are you sure?”
My interpretation of the story is that it gave the indication, perhaps unintentionally, that moms everywhere are chomping down on mouthfuls of Xanax to get over bumps in the road of motherhood. The reporter never mentioned that at least two of the moms featured were on medication because they had been diagnosed with mental illness. It really bugged me that the segment didn’t tie this issue to real illness. Comments like “daily pill regimen” and “depending on a little pill to get through the day” irked me.
This is why I’m so grateful Dr. Jennifer Ashton came to the rescue at the end of the piece to provide real, helpful information that was actually correct! She talked about the fact that there are many mothers who have been diagnosed with mental illness for whom taking medication is not a “fun to do” just to get through a tough day. She also rightly suggested there are doctors who hand medication out to moms who likely don’t need it, and moms who are not being monitored during the course of the medication by a trained mental health professional. Thank goodness she wrapped up this piece, because otherwise I wouldn’t have liked it one bit.
I love this site! I wish I could come read more often. I have a a history of depression and anxiety and had no idea how hard PPD hit me until just recently. Thank you for what you do.
This is pretty much what happened when I was on Anderson Live, too, although the expert only slightly redirected the conversation. The focus was on anxiety, not depression, and despite my attempt to inform people about the physical basis for the underlying anxiety, the take-home message ended up being about ways to reduce your stress with things like yoga. I got mad when the anti-med mom on stage accused me of throwing pills at my son when he has any sort of problem, but it let me reply with what I needed to say.
There’s still way too much bias in the wrong direction when it comes to media coverage of mental illness. I’m glad you’re being used as a source more and more now, at least!
Katherine, you should create a press resource for mainstream journalists on postpartum depression. TV reporters, and to a lesser extent print reporters, are almost never going to get it right without more help. As a former journalist, I know we occasionally revisited the way we framed certain conditions and issues, usually when we were faced with a group of people who didn’t like how they were being characterized. (For example, the National Association for Mental Illness had a campaign on how to discuss mental illness in the media. Some of it was nuanced, some was as concrete as “say ‘people with mental illness” instead of ‘the mentally ill.'” Another example: The media had to be taught not to mention a woman’s outfit in stories about rape. Sad, but true.) I know there are a lot of resources out there for people who have time to do the research, but from my experience I don’t think TV reporters (who are the most influential) have that kind of time. Give them a cheat sheet. Literally. Reach out to editors and producers with a one-pager or a folder of what kinds of things to say and not say before the next news peg hits. Make sure they know it’s inaccurate to call PPD the baby blues, etc. Most news organizations don’t want to knowingly publish inaccuracies, so if you focus on how coverage can be more accurate (as opposed to more sensitive, which is less important), you will get a better response. A two column chart of things that are inaccurate and things that are accurate to say might be helpful. I’m not kidding. Once a news story is in production it’s really too late to learn or fix the mistakes.
Xanax and prozac/celexa are NOT NOT NOT NOT the same type of drug, Xanax is a prn drug, not a daily type of drug. Using xanax daily is a substance abuse, thats not what it was meant to be used for.
its really upsetting and seems like it is being used as an easy way out when a mom isnt willing to commit to using an antidepressant or long term anti anxiety medication. I hate how the term “meds” is used also like ” ohh someone forgot their meds” snarky type of thing. Also,why are they showing everyone drinking so much?Its just weird. The dr in the end may have wrapped it up but too much damage was done for it to be fixed.
Well, even that isn’t quite true either. I don’t take Xanax daily, but I do take Ativan every night before bed as prescribed by my doctor. It’s the lowest dose available, and it’s to help curb the ruminations that keep me awake at night.
Yeah, without the end part, this entire piece is terrible. The whole Mommy’s Little Helper thing, and making it look like these are moms who just can’t hack parenting. You’re perception is dead-on, Katherine. The question “did medication make you a better parent?” I wished they’d included footage of one of the moms saying”Yes, because I was diagnosed with X and the medication was necessary for me to recover.” Maybe some of the moms did say something like that, but they sure didn’t show it. Ugh…media.
Sorry, I did not mean to make it sound like the moms featured in the segment did something wrong. Not at all. They were courageous to speak out in public about their struggles. And I’m sure they said much more than was ever included in the segment. My beef is that GMA didn’t seem to have a clear plan to connect the personal stories with mental illness diagnoses, making it sound like stressed moms “turn to pills.”. It came off as kind of tabloidy until the doctor’s final comments. They could have taken a much more compassionate tone for the whole thing.
I’m so frustrated by how the media has latched on to this lately and how none of the shows are getting it right. None of them. While they each take a moment with an expert to discuss the realities of mood and anxiety disorders, the spend the majority of their time reinforcing stereotypes and stigma. I wonder if any of the producers suffer from mental illness. Why haven’t any of these shows gotten it right???