Warrior Moms Pull the Plug on ABC's "Private Practice"

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I'm so happy to hear from those of you who arechoosing to stop watching"Private Practice" (and a lot of you quitting "Grey's" too) or to speak outagainst ABC's irresponsible portrayal of perinatal mood and anxiety disorders like postpartum depression, postpartum anxiety and postpartum psychosis.

Some of us are tired of this kind of treatment and the effect it has on sufferingmoms and their families. I'm tired of people thinking it's okay, that they can get away with it because it makes forgood television. The truth about our illnesses is that one size does not fit all. Not everyone who has a perinatal mood and anxiety disorder gets postpartum psychosis. Not everyone who gets postpartum psychosis harms or tries to harm their baby.

The ABC Television Network, which airs "Private Practice",and ABC Studios, which produces the show,are owned by Disney, the supposedly family-oriented company. Anne Sweeney, the president of the Disney-ABC Television Group is a WOMAN, for goodness sake!!!! Do they not understand the impact these illnesses have on the families whose business they court? Do they know that women who are stigmatized and don't reach out forprofessional treatmentare often affected over the long-term with physical and emotional health problems, asare their infants?

I can already hear thePR people at ABCsaying, "But it's just a TV program. It's not real. No one takes it seriously." Bull. If that was the case, why use a medical consultant to get the facts right on the illnesses you portray in the show (a medical consultant who obviously had no clue in this case, but whatever)? Why did you reach out to PSI? Why am I getting emails from women who are so terribly upset? It's just"imaginary" isthe standard answer whenever the public gets upset. Or, "Oh well, you know, we did our best …" No you didn't. I worked in corporate marketing at The Coca-Cola Company for nearly 7 years, and trust me, whatever was important to the company was buttoned up and done right. Exactly right. Period. The people at Disney-ABC TV would have gotten it right if they'd cared to, believe me.

Maybe some think I should be more forgiving. Gentle. Nice. After all, relationships are important, right? Just ask them if they can do better next time, right? They can't be responsible for everything, right? Don't make too much noise, right? Because maybe someday ABC won't invite you for an interview, or they won't advertise with you, or they won't partner with you, right?

NO. WAY.

If I followed that line of thinking, I wouldn't say half the things I say on Postpartum Progress. This blog is for the nights I sat in my room in the dark crying and for the nights you have to. It's for the times I almost reached out for help, but didn't out of fear, just prolonging my illness. It's for the times I was convinced my child would be taken away and I'd never seehim again, and for the times you have felt the same way. It's for all the women who will come after me who I hope never feel as alone as I did. YOU,ladies, deserve better.

Warrior Moms, you rock! I'm so proud of you for refusing to accept sensationalism and misinformation. So honored to know you. So great to hear from you and get all of your emails. You can still email me at stonecallis@msn.com.

It takes a lot of people speaking very loudly to get any attention whatsoever. Here are some of you who have spoken out:

If you haven't said anything yet but want to, DO IT! Every voice counts.

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