Today I got a direct message on Twitter from someone telling me the following:
Postpartum Depression is not a disease. It’s a coping strategy.
Ok … thanks for the info …
I don’t know the therapist who sent me the message. I don’t want to malign her thinking. Perhaps she’s got a point, perhaps she doesn’t. I have no medical training, so how would I know?
What her tweet did bring up in my mind is all of the discussion about whether postpartum depression is real or not, whether it’s genetic or not, whether we can help it or not. These discussions tire me. I’ve seen this illness in myself and I’ve seen it in other people and I KNOW it’s real, regardless of the reason why it’s there. Do I understand exactly what causes postpartum depression? Nope. Does anyone else? Nope. Not yet, anyway.
We can get stuck there, arguing over whether it’s really an illness or what precise thing brings it about. We can choose to dig in, lockedin that dispute forever, quarreling back and forth and accusing each other of being wrong. (It’s genetic. No, it’s a hormone problem. No, it’s dietary. No, it’s caused by neurotransmitters. No, it’s due to the modern materialistic society of the West. No, it’s due to childhood trauma …) Meanwhile, women will continue to suffer and will still need help. At that moment. They can’t wait for the cause to be found.
Thankfully there are a small handful of ways women can be helped, enough of which work effectively enough to get us through the crisis.And there are scientists who are still looking into the causes of depression in general, refusing to get bogged down in the bickering.
“In the second part of the study, Redei found strong indications that depression actually begins further up in the chain of events in the brain. The biochemical events that ultimately result in depression actually start in the development and functioning of neurons.
‘The medications have been focusing on the effect, not the cause,’ she said. ‘That’s why it takes so long for them to work and why they aren’t effective for so many people.’
What does this mean? I have no idea. I’m grateful they’re working so hard to figure this all out. I look forward to the day when we will know the cause of postpartum depression for sure. And that day surely will come.
In the meantime, we’ve got to go with what we’ve got now, choosing to reach out for help, weighing the risks of various treatments, working with professionals, and getting better.If you want an emotionally healthy family now, you don’t have the luxury of waiting for the exact right answer.
You are right on the money.
The reality is that women ARE suffering, and their FAMILIES are suffering, and that can't go unacknowledged.
Sure, knowing the precise causes would be great information to have, but what we really need is to know that we are not alone, and that help is available.
Arguing about what it is or is not is counterproductive.
I appreciate your perspective so much.
Sometimes when I look back on my postpartum depression, I wonder, in my currently mentally healthy state, did I invent it?
I know this sounds bizarre, but these little moments of self-doubt keep happening. Especially when I look at other new moms and see their tired eyes and crying babies. Why couldn't I get through that without help? Why did I suffer? Was it necessary? Did I cause my depression to happen? Or, have I mislabeled something that all new moms experience as PPD?
Of course I know my anxiety was real. I guess the thing to do is to stop comparing myself to other new mothers. A challenge, indeed.
interesting argument. to me disease means "dis" ease, or lack or ease, and that sure applies to everyone i know who suffers from depression and anxiety no matter what the root.
Among the many aggravations to persons suffering from little-understood conditions is the attempts by some people to fit the problem into whatever social/political/religious agenda they happen to advocate. I know from experience: my husband, under the influence of a poorly chosen cohort, insisted on forcing my PPD into an ideological framework. I don't want to detract from the focus of my site by discussing this in detail; suffice it to say he viewed everything through a religious prism. After four and a half months, he finally saw the light and addressed me as an individual, but the pain of those four months will never leave me. Getting reduced to a social construct when you need individual attention hurts.
P.S.–Suzanne, I understand what you mean. I've experienced this, also, most recently when I see my six-month-old twin nephew and niece with their mom.
When I first saw this post, my first reaction was "hmmm…we've got another case of someone doubting the existence of PPD…and this person is a therapist." I was annoyed then, and I figured I'd wait a while before posting a comment. Coming back to this now, I still feel annoyed. There should be no question as to whether PPD exists or not. Let this therapist and any other doubters suffer it firsthand and the doubt will disappear. Katherine is right on the money. Regardless of cause, what's absolutely critical is for the new mother to get help and get well. Her last sentence sums it all up: "If you want an emotionally healthy family now, you don't have the luxury of waiting for the exact right answer."