Is 'postpartum depression' real??

Is "postpartum depression" real??

#relatable #religion #news #politics #christianity #christian #bible #conservative #alliebethstuckey #ssri #antidepressant #mentalhealth #postpartum

[friedacook]

There's a huge difference in postpartum depression and postpartum psychosis!

[Nicholas-eq]

With my 2nd baby, PPD took the joy right out of my days—I couldn’t focus on anything except how awful I felt 😩. It was like I was on autopilot, caring for everyone else while I crumbled inside. I read the book “Seventeen Gentle Steps Toward Your Inner Sunrise” and it helped me feel more like myself in less than a week 🤗. If I’d had this after my 1st baby, I’d have skipped months of pain.

[emilywilliams]

The question should not be is it real, but what is really the solution. Maybe its not medication. But lets not pretend for a second that it isn't real. That is harmful.

[shannonschwab]

Careful of broad strokes. I had good support and still struggled. It's real

[adelinewurzer]

I had postpartum depression because even though I am in a happy marriage, and our son was 100% planned, becoming a mother completely rocked my world. No matter how ready you think you are, having a baby turns everything you know upside down. My son was a bad sleeper and a velcro baby. He woke up every hour and cried until he was 18 months old. It would take literal hours of walking around the house with him and bouncing and shushing to get to sleep. He wouldn't sleep unless I was holding him so we slept in the recliner for the first year of his life. I am just one of those people who does not like the infant stage. It's stressful, boring, depressing and scary. Everyone kept telling me to go to the doctor and get put on pills, but I refused. Because I was nursing and I knew that my depression was situational. My son is now 2 and a half and things are wonderful. I'm a stay at home mother, and I wake up genuinely happy and excited to be this amazing little boy's mother. He sleeps better, can communicate what he wants/needs with words, is so smart and is overall an amazing and happy toddler. We have so much fun together everyday. I am so very blessed and I thank God every day for him. I'm not saying that it's WRONG to get put on medication for PPD, but what I am saying is maybe try to wait it out. Maybe you just don't enjoy the infant stage like me. A lot of the time, depression really is situational.

[juliem]

This guy. SMH. I’m not saying everyone needs to take pills afterward, but good gracious. He’s out there pretending like the mood issues can’t get extreme or scary. They absolutely can.

[madisyngerard]

I know this is what everyone says about everything, but if you have never truly had it, you will never understand. I had all the "right" things: an unmedicated natural birth in a birth center, I was young, married, exclusively breastfeeding, supportive husband who had 1 month off work, supportive family on both sides. I still felt absolutely insane. Filled with rage. No bond with my baby. It was the worst thing I've ever experienced. Unspeakeable and indescribable. Something inside of me just begging me to violently smash my head into a wall repeatedly, sure that it would make it better. I'm not saying medication is the answer, because I went on medication and I don't feel like I started to get better until I started sleeping more. But its easy to talk about "does this thing exist?" When you've never experienced it, like Allie or this man. No one is trying to "put the fear in mothers that if they feel sad after birth they're on a path to kill their baby so therefore they should take meds". Most moms I know who have felt the need have had to fight for their doctor to listen.

[spencergsmith]

My wife struggled with postpartum depression to some degree after all 3 of her pregnancies, and all of her childbirths were completely natural and at home.

PPD is a very real thing, and so is the danger it poses.

[sailorarwen]

Before pregnancy I’ve struggled with PMDD. Two weeks before my period every single month I become a different person. Irrational angry all the time, binge eating, feeling completely hopeless, wanting to unalive myself. Then I get my period and all that goes away.
When I was pregnant it was smooth sailing. I was like “is this what it feels like to be normal??” I was relaxed through my whole pregnancy. Come postpartum everything fell apart. I was never put on any meds but I stuck it out for two years before finally admitting defeat and I started a medication. It wasn’t something I wanted, but I do believe for many women there’s something chemically going on that we can’t figure out how to control and meds CAN be helpful. I really don’t like pharmaceuticals and I’d give anything not to take them but I was really really getting close to being completely done with life. For the sake of my family I started the med. I’m doing better.

[katjones]

Having support and people u can rely on is everything

[allisonbamberg]

PPD is very real. It isn’t a fear tactic, and if there are mamas out there reading this, nothing is wrong with you. You’re not experiencing something that is made up. I’m not a big advocate for meds, but I think you need to look at the situation and decide what needs to be done. In my case, it was better to go on meds for a time and get some help versus living in the severe depression I was in and possibly giving into my suicidal thoughts. So, no, I wouldn’t say meds are the answer, but sometimes they do help. If anything, I’d say try other things first, and then if you have to: start with the lowest dose and less potent one, then wean off of it as soon as you can.

[Rosie-ufox]

So thankful. I had PPD with both babies. My doctor prescribed vitamin D, a Vitamin B complex, exercise, and talk therapy. Made a huge difference.

[cb]

I think it is real but the support system isn't the same and the nutrition in our food isn't the same.

[jeffreywp]

You know. There’s no guessing. I remember being in the waiting room of my wife’s obgyn and the nurse came out to me telling me that my wife needed me. When I went in she was in tears. Totally unlike her. So thankful I had 2 weeks paternity leave. My wife experienced severe anxiety whenever I left the house. She briefly went on meds, and they helped rather quickly. Then she was weaned off of them. Second child she didn’t have it.

Yeah, there’s no guessing. You and your wife know if you have postpartum. It’s real. Please don’t go all anti-psychology needlessly and throw the baby out with the bath water.

[mfndz]

Honestly I love ABS but things like this are just so tone deaf. Medical intervention is NOT evil. Can it be evil? Sure. But pretending like people never need help is ridiculous. I try ny hardest to not need intervention unless necessary. Even when I had PPD I was never medicated (and I had pitocin during more than one birth 😱🙄) and I was ok but tuats not always the case. Clearly youve not suffered ppd.

[Rosie_C]

A lot of the modern birthing “process” is driven by fear, as well.

[Bekka]

Often women are low on iron as well, which makes a huge difference to energy levels and flow-through to mood etc.

[KEP]

Yes, it's real. My wife went through it. Twice. No medications, but it lasted a full year the first time to the point she wanted to delete herself (having never had mental health issues before pregnancy or since overcoming postpartum depression). It was not quite as bad the second time.

[virklad]

I went through about four years of PPD after my first child. We couldn't afford insurance at the time so medical support wasn't an option. It was the hardest thing I've ever done. Alli is absolutley right. Support from friends and family make a big difference. The times when friends and family reached out were the bright spots in that very dark time. Also, hang onto God no matter what. My relationship with him was a bedrock when everything else was falling apart.

[phamtomshadow]

That means before having a baby make sure that you can support yourself, so even if no one is there your baby will not be put in danger, its your baby, its your responsibility to take care of it, not your mom, aunt, grandma etc