My blog hosting service allows me to see which pages on Postpartum Progress people are coming to, what timepeople come to the site and what brought them to each page. (Not who, because this isn't George Orwell's 1984. We're not in China. Don't freak out or anything. I can only see what pages or posts are being visited, not who the people are who are visiting.) They do this so that bloggers can figure out where their audience is coming from and what content drives the most traffic.

When I see something like the following, it makes me sad:

7:56PM /weblog/postpartum-depression-psychosis-ocd-whats-wrong-with-me.html

7:52PM /weblog/2006/01/the_myth_of_wis.html

7:44PM /weblog/2009/11/the-symptoms-of-postpartum-depression-anxiety-in-plain-mama-english-1.html

Iget afeeling in the pit of my stomach that is a facsimile, though less frightening, ofhowI felt when I had PPOCD.Because Ican tell from the listabovethat there's a woman who is sitting at her computer somewhere suffering who has been on my site and is searching for answers.

I feel just the tiniest bit good, too, because I know she just found Postpartum Progress and she's hopefully finding informationthat is helping her. In the span of 10 or so minutes, this woman — whoever andwherever she is –is reading about what's wrong with her, what the symptoms of postpartum depression and other illnesses are, and why you can't just wish perinatal mood and anxiety disorders away. God bless her.