ShareWIK has now kicked off a week of focusing on postpartum depression, featuring videos from Amber Koter of Beyond Postpartum, Dr. Kathleen Franco from the Cleveland Clinic, and … well … me. I think the videos turned out great. (I know she’ll probably kill me, but isn’t Amber just ADORABLE inher video?!!?!?! Completely endearing and she does a great job of telling her story.)
I hope you’ll go checkthem allout. Thanks so much to Diane Keough and Matt Clement for recognizing PPD as an important health issue and putting this information together. They did an awesome job!
Thank you for all your work informing others. Yes, obtrusive thoughts are prevalent and are also a VERY common symptom of pp OCD. Mine were not about harming anyone, but were thoughts of my children being harmed by others, I think the result of my Catholic upbringing and too much Oprah. I resisted treatment for so long because I was so ashamed and I saw taking psychiatric medication as some sort of character flaw. I also thought I was strong enough of a woman to just get through it. Ignoring the warning signs (intrusive thoughts) landed me in a psychosis for three weeks in the hospital. My mantra now, "It's an illness, NOT a weakness." I'm happy to see postpartum progress helping to chip away at this stigma.
Thank you for all your work informing others. Yes, obtrusive thoughts are prevalent and are also a VERY common symptom of pp OCD. Mine were not about harming anyone, but were thoughts of my children being harmed by others, I think the result of my Catholic upbringing and too much Oprah. I resisted treatment for so long because I was so ashamed and I saw taking psychiatric medication as some sort of character flaw. I also thought I was strong enough of a woman to just get through it. Ignoring the warning signs (intrusive thoughts) landed me in a psychosis for three weeks in the hospital. My mantra now, “It’s an illness, NOT a weakness.” I’m happy to see postpartum progress helping to chip away at this stigma.
Thank you for this video. I'm starting to believe you survivors that I am going to get better.
I love this one the most! This is what we need, people to come out and bluntly (but articulately) address the topic. If I had seen something like this back when stuff was happening to me I could have saved myself almost two years of pain!
LOVE IT!!!!
I LOVE IT, TOO! Can you imagine if every woman was shown this video before they left the hospital how much suffering could be stopped in its tracks! Thanks Katherine, yet again, for being so cool and brave.
You continue to give me hope that someday I will reoover. Thank you for all you do to advocate for us!
Great video! It brought tears to my eyes because I experienced similar thoughts after each of my childrens' birth. For me these thoughts were the first symptoms of the onset of PPD, the first indicators that there was a problem. After having these thoughts with my first child I had no idea what to think, other than I was going crazy for thinking of dropping by baby off the stairs. These scary thoughts went so far as to enable me to envision my baby's lifeless body lying on the ground. I knew that I didn't want to harm my child, yet these thoughts kept coming, like a broken record. I didn't dare share these thoughts with anyone, not my husband, nor my own mother. It was only after I shared these thoughts with a psychiatrist that I learned that there is a name for what I was feeling and that there is help available. I am a two time survivor of PPD and even now when I talk about my PPD thoughts with my husband, he looks at me with such astonishment, as if he can't believe that I would have such thoughts. This only emphasizes the point that we need to continually get the word out so that women who are suffering know not to feel ashamed because what they are going through has a name and, most importantly, they too can get help and recover. I really commend you, Katherine, and others like you for tirelessly spreading the word.
Thank you. I'm sorry to hear of your struggle, but at the same time am so happy to see that you ended up getting the help you needed. It's so easy for all of us to become convinced that we should be able to handle it on our own. I wish it was that easy.
Indeed!!!!! Glad we're believable!
Thank you!
Thanks Deborah. And don't forget I welcome videos from the readers of PP so that we can have as many people as possible sharing their stories.
You will recover. You WILL. It takes time, which totally STINKS, but you will be better.
I completely identify with what you are saying. Isn't it amazing when someone explains to you rationally what is going on, and you can see that you are not a horrible, worthless human being? I was so happy when my therapist helped me to see what was happening to me.
Thank you Katherine! If anyone is interested, a friend of mine created a campaign called "One in a Million." You can sign up anonymously and share your "coming out" story of mental illness. Your identity will only be revealed once one million people have shared theirs too! See: , or my post about it at http://www.reflectionondepression.typepad.com.