Health care for postpartum depression

By SUSAN DOWD STONE
Featured Blogger

The historic passage of Healthcare Reform also makes history for America’s mothers as language from The Melanie Blocker Stokes MOTHERS Act becomes LAW!!!

Finally, the plight of millions of American women, infants and families has been acknowledged and the tide forever turned! With this long sought federal mandate, states will find more support for PPD programs, researchers will find funding encouragement to continue their search for etiology and cure, and communities will harken to respond to this unmet need. Grants will be made available to fund a variety of entities and programs charged with caring for women suffering from postpartum depression.

There are no words to express our collective gratitude to the following individuals who began this march oh so long ago. Each step was filled with conviction, tears, controversy, guts, belief, outrage, setbacks and hope. And tonight, we can all begin to feel that at long last the doors and hearts of America are open to the maternal suffering that may no longer be silent and stigmatized.

To U.S. Senator Robert Menendez, you are an unwavering champion of the women and infants you represent. Against all odds, you never once set aside this initiative. You are not the Senator from New Jersey, you are the Senator of America’s mothers.

To NJ Senate President Richard Codey and the courageous Mary Jo - beloved by all for taking on the most difficult role of her life – with your example, your stigma busting campaign and your groundbreaking state legislation, you set the bar for our nation to follow. “Speak Up When You’re Down” she said. And women have not been silent since.

To Congressman Bobby L. Rush, who brought the House to its feet with near unanimous consensus and forceful leadership on this issue, your unfaltering crusade has led us to this moment. Without your work, your belief, our voices would still be murmurs of closeted shame. You are the change you sought, you live the life you lead others to believe in.

And to Carol Blocker, who has walked a million miles to share her story of incomprehensible heartache so that others might be spared excruciating loss, know that Melanie Blocker Stokes lives not only in the eyes of Somer Skyye, but in every program and community which will safeguard their mothers. We Thank God for Carol’s advocacy.

Each one of us is aligned with one or all of these heroes. Be it through motherhood, fatherhood, childhood, advocacy, organizational and individual support, a foundation born of tragedy, experience, research, blogging, writing, singing, creating, art, music, medicine, psychology, non profit leadership, endurance, courage, community action or voices in unison, you have all indeed made a life saving difference.

And for every mother and child lost to this illness…every square on Postpartum Support International’s Memory Quilt…. read each year by PSI’s Founder Jane Honikman…you are not forgotten and your life continues to infuse helping, caring spirit throughout the community of motherhood.

To every person who signed the petition, know that your signature was seen; that it carried weight. From Congressional offices to Qunnipiac pollsters, the petition was read and referenced again and again. You fearlessly listed your names, dared to make your stand known, and said, Enough is Enough. You have won. Thank you for your virtual presence, your letters, your phone calls, your support, your persistence.

Below is the language included in tonight’s Senate Bill which will now become law. Note that it does NOT mandate screening OR subsidize medication. The breadth and depth of the services encouraged and supported by its initiatives open the door to programs from concrete services to help new mothers, to education, public awareness and support, research and access to treatment.

When we began this journey, we did so with the acknowledgement that the experience of motherhood is apolitical, universal in its reach. Tonight, let that shared love and reverence reach above political differences and prevail in this celebration of life-saving victory for America’s mother, infants and families.

The choices we make

The other day, I was sitting in a small room with five other fortysomethings, pouring over a list of 8-year-olds. For a brief moment, I thought, wow, think of the power I have right now. I have the power to change lives.

I'm trying to pick a baseball team, I thought, and the decision I make right now could be a harbinger of luck, good or bad, for each of these boys and girls who live for crisp, early-spring days in April or hot, sticky Saturdays in June.

I know...I know...It all sounds so trivial. Baseball isn't a job. It's fun, and it's volunteer work. There is so much going on right now that hour-long roster-composing seems so small compared to the battle in Afghanistan or the push to pass health care reform. My friend, Bill, works on the First Aid squad, and I envy his devotion.

But for the 8-year-old, it's everything. Even for the high-school-age kid, it's everything and more. It made me think of my role as not only a coach, but a parent. Putting a team together means crafting relationships, and creating potential friendships. The friends they share, and the moments they have may never leave them.

So I'd better do my "job," I thought, and I'd better do it well. I hoped I did my homework, and I brought a legal pad with a list of the players I wanted, whether they were on the list or not.

I was late, largely because my town got nearly crushed by this wicked Nor'easter that blazed through last weekend, pulling trees from their roots and causing them to block off streets. The Little League field was sandwiched between a few spots that were cordoned off with yellow police tape. I sweated as I screeched through side street after side street, looking for an opening so I could get there on time. I wasn't.

But when I got my list, I checked off the people I wanted right away, and scribbled those who were gobbled up first. I wiped off the sweat that filled my brow as I tried to avoid fallen trees with my car, and got to work.

I picked kids who were talented, but not just in baseball. I wanted kids who could work together well. I wanted people who could remember each other. I wanted parents who could help. In the end, I was quite pleased with what I got.

I thought of my own self, and how I never really enjoyed organized sports until high school, when I joined the cross-country running team at Point Pleasant Borough High School. It's funny, because some of the best moments of my life happened with that team. Some of my biggest disappointments happened, too, such as injuring my knee my senior year. But all those moments, bad and good, stayed with me forever.

I often think, geez, what would have happened if I didn't have such a great group of guys around me when I got that injury, and lost my status as the best runner on the team? I've long thought that that injury was the worst thing that ever happened to me. But when you put that injury in the context of a whole year, it's not so bad. The other runners and I (Bill among them) made the best of the situation.

I thought of my oldest son, and how he thought of dropping out of baseball four years ago. He had played only two years, but he was already tired of it. We had just had our third child, and he and the rest of us were exhausted. Tommy didn't even bother trying out for the higher level.

That year, however, he got just the right coaches. He got three guys who really cared, and recognized his ability. Tommy learned to love the game again, and soon, he learned to love another sport even more - soccer. Walking into that situation spurred his confidence more than anything before or since, and he's gone on to become an excellent baseball and soccer player.

His baseball team, in fact, has won two championships in a row. My guess is he won't forget those, either.

Blown away

I resisted the temptation of writing about Corey Haim, the child star whose career - and, ultimately, his life - ended before he got old, even if he was old in spirit.

To a writer, however, Hollywood and its actors are, in some cases, part of a a tragedy right out of Hamlet, and even King Lear. Unfortunately, their dying breaths seem to always come after appearing on a reality T.V. show, like "Celebrity Rehab" and "The Two Coreys," turning their once-promising careers that would be fit for a front-page obituary into a punchline that's panel talk on "Larry King Live."

As Shakespeare said, the world is a stage; all the people are merely players. Hollywood, in turn, is the world's most enduring circus.

Looking back, Haim's story was as old as any tragic child star's. He looked like another player in the circus. He looked like another addict who couldn't even survive in a reality T.V. show, even one with his name, because his addiction to drugs was too strong.

But as with any case involving drugs, mental illness or anything else that leads to an end that's tragic, the whole story never really gets told. Instead, it's blinded by the popping flashbulbs and large-type headlines that offer few lessons but plenty of gossip.

Judging by the tributes coming from those who know and understand film, Haim had a gift that was unique. He had the skills that should have put him on the stage of the Academy Awards on Sunday, and not have made him the subject of TMZ gossip fodder on Wednesday. As we've seen time and again, the skills are no match for the addiction. The Betty Ford Clinic is no alternative to the circus.

And the circus merely feeds the beast, over and over, destroying our most talented people. Hollywood has never come clean with its addictions; instead, it seems to aid and abett until it destroys.

The only movie of Haim's that I can remember was "Blown Away," a straight-to-HBO flick from 1992 that is known more for the beauty of Baywatch star Nicole Eggert than anything else (one of my most vivid memories as a 25-year-old bachelor was watching her, in this movie, over and over again as it lingered through the HBO repeat cycle, catering to an audience of early-to-mid-twentysomethings who had nothing better to do than ... well ... watch her).

All these tributes (tributes?) that came from Larry King and the like seemed like hungry ratings grabbers - probably the best ratings Haim ever had or ever would have seen. The story is so cliche now, the former child star gone bad whose life ends tragically.

Larry King and Nancy Grace are always ready to pounce on a story like this like they're televised undertakers. They give them the same recycled eulogy that they gave for the "lost" stars of "Different Strokes" and "Lost Boys" (Haim's most well-known flick), and invite the same people on their show who probably did little to nothing to head their friends off from disaster.

But there was one tribute out there that I came across that was actually old, but it struck me as profound, if not a bit strange. It was a 23-year-old review from Roger Ebert that was mentioned in a Washington Post online slideshow. Ebert said Haim, after watching his performance in "Lucas," was destined for stardom as long as he didn't follow the path of so many other child stars, and screw up his life.

He said that Haim had a complexity to his character, and to his acting, that he hadn't seen in years. Ebert seemed to suggest that he could have been as big as Tom Cruise, Robert Downey Jr., Sean Penn or any of the gifted actors - maybe even bigger - who survived the 1980s and lived to have an enduring career.

Haim never realized that potential, and his life was more complicated than complex. He turned to crack and pills and a host of many other drugs that made him look like he was 50 when he was 35 years old. He turned a complex acting skill and a promising career into a Dana Plato cliche.

And, yet, maybe Ebert was right, because I still remember him from that movie, "Blown Away," just as much as I remember Eggert. I remember thinking that, hey, here was a guy around my age who had a presence. He did have complexity, because he had diversity in emotions. He did have range, because he was able to play roles that were good and bad, in films that were quality and schlock.

He was a guy you could identify with, because he didn't have Brad Pitt looks. He looked like the "everyman," and he was able to lift "Blown Away" (there was a lot of room for improvement) into something more than eye candy.

The dialogue was horrible. The plot - Haim and Eggert played two lovers who conspired to kill Eggert's father, with Eggert being the chief plotter - was as ridiculous as any of the forgettable movies that cycle through HBO at 1 a.m.

But you've got to respect an actor who can do his best in a bad situation. Even in this cheesy movie, he had the foundation of a promising career that Ebert talked about. Yet, he was another artist with a crutch. He was yet another example of a profession that requires emotional depth and range of its workers. Many can't meet that demand because of their own personal instability and insecurities.

All they have left is a daily dosage of 85 pills - Haim's daily intake - and a career in tatters with no highwire safety net from the Hollywood circus to save them.

Covering mental health

To paraphrase Bob Woodward, journalists – and their readers – should seek the truth or, more realistically, the “most obtainable version” of it.

But in its coverage of crime that involves people with mental illness, the media has consistently produced information that is incomplete, inconsistent and, as a result, untruthful to the point of outrageousness.

In such matters, the media needs to grasp the complexity of mental illness – which would include developing an understanding of the background, symptoms and effects of schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and other illnesses – before going to print or doing a broadcast.

Unfortunately, the media has too often chosen the low-road and typically gone for the fear-mongering, consumer-driven components of a story rather than promoting a profound understanding that – if they tried – could attract the same amount of readers they normally get, as well as perform a public service.

The media also have failed to provide a consistent balance in the form of an alternative viewpoint that could help explain – and lend clarity to – such issues. Providing balance in crime news could help shape a new understanding of mental illness and, perhaps, help people better understand why certain crimes are committed.

Perhaps the biggest culprit is the tabloid media, which has developed its own vocabulary of terms to paint people with mental illness as less than desirable. These news outlets routinely dehumanize people by labeling them with derogatory terms such as “wacko” or “loon” – even if the story has a remote connection, or even lacks any association, with mental illness.

Language is, perhaps, the media’s sharpest weapon, and it’s allowed The New York Post, The New York Daily News and many papers like it to be seduced by the need to condense, shock, outrage and, ultimately, demean those with mental illness.

A search of newspaper headlines through the Lexis-Nexis online research site, for example, revealed that, since March 1995, the word “wacko” has appeared in articles published by The Daily News and The Post more than 500 times (The same term was used in The New York Times, which has shown more sensitivity toward mental health issues, 238 times, but not one appeared in a headline). The term was sometimes used to describe some cases where mental illness was not necessarily an issue – but, because of the headline, it’s either unfairly implied or alleged that mental illness was connected to crime, or it was even the direct cause of it.

One such Daily News headline on April 20, 2004 read thusly: WEB HATE SITES LURING SICKOS, WACKOS, WEIRDOS. Toward that end, Michael Jackson was always an easy target, such as this example from the Daily News on April 1, 2004: JACKO GOES MUM BUT STAYS WACKO. On March 14, 2004, this headline appeared in The New York Post: STANDOFF; WACKO HOLDS GRANNY HOSTAGE.

Sometimes, these editorial headline decisions are made BEFORE the facts of a particular case come to light. The Feb. 7, 2007 issue of Columbia Journalism Review, for instance, cited the reporting of the bizarre adventures of Lisa Nowak as an example, noting the former astronaut “soared” across newspaper front pages earlier this year not for her recent shuttle mission to the international space station, but for the details surrounding her arrest and subsequent charges for attempted murder and kidnapping.

As CJR noted, Nowak had recently separated from her husband of 19 years, with whom she had three children. She graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy and worked at NASA for more than 20 years. Many news reports, however, focused not on her accomplished background or her recent marital troubles, but on the sensationalistic case evidence produced by police: Nowak allegedly wore adult diapers so she wouldn’t have to stop during her 900-mile road trip to confront Air Force Capt. Colleen Shipman, whom Nowak allegedly considered a rival for the affections of another astronaut, William A. Oefelein, according to CJR.

Twenty-four hours after the story broke, it was still unclear whether Nowak suffered from any illnesses related to mental health. Still, the news media jumped on this story and immediately applied derogatory mental health terms to describe the disgraced astronaut and her adventures – none more so than The New York Daily News, which displayed a front page, bold-type, black-and-white headline that said: “Dark Side of the Loon.” To this day, it’s still unclear whether Nowak suffers from any type of mental illness, but it didn’t matter: The Daily News had effectively dehumanized her before she even had a diagnosis from a psychiatrist.

In some ways, television news has adopted the same kind of shock-and-awe philosophy as The Post and The Daily News. The 24-hour news outlets have helped promote that approach by employing commentators who offer strongly worded diatribes that strike a nerve with a public that’s weary of random, unexplained kidnappings and killings in today’s society.

Some anchors will even use the word “loon” to describe anyone who is undesirable or, more accurately, anyone who disagrees with them. In the process, they've reinforced the obvious bias against people with mental illness.

The gotcha headlines and labels, some media have argued, attract people who otherwise wouldn’t give a damn about what’s going on in the world around them. In a Dec. 20, 2001 article published by the Asia News Network, one network executive defended his network’s overall approach to news and how it deals with crime and terrorism stories by saying: “Look, we understand the enemy... They want to murder us. We don't sit around and get all gooey and wonder if these people have been misunderstood in their childhood. If they're going to try to kill us, that's bad.”

But all that is beside the point. To quote Albert Brooks in the movie “Broadcast News,” they’re burying the lead, and not reporting on the root cause of the murder or what can be done to prevent such horrific acts from happening again.

In a June 16, 1995 New York Times article, reporter Lisa Foderaro noted: “Language is such a sensitive area in the mental health field because it can reflect an individual's very notion of what mental illness is – whether a serious disease or merely a psychiatric label put on an emotional crisis or an altered state of consciousness – and because it can be belittling or empowering.” She then quoted Nora Weinerth of the National Stigma Clearinghouse in New York, who said: “When language is used to devalue, it shapes attitudes that, in turn, become public policy.”

Having balanced coverage would perhaps counteract against the stereotypes. In criminal matters, reporters could give mental illness awareness efforts the same kind of respect they give to police departments who want to inform a public about a suspect who’s on the loose. If a reporter discovers that a suspect is schizophrenic, or obsessive compulsive, or bipolar, maybe he or she should call up psychiatrists or the National Alliance on Mentally Illness to learn more about the illness, and then report on it. Psychiatrists, psychologists or advocates could be on the same “call list” – right alongside the police – when a murder takes place and the evidence is clear that the suspect has a mentally illness.

The New York Times is, perhaps, one of the few who “get it” and explore what happens in criminal cases involving people with mental illness as well as revealing the so-called “dark side” of the suspect. It was, in fact, one of the first publications to explore what happened to Andrew Goldstein before he pushed Kendra Webdale to her death on a subway track in New York City. The man was diagnosed with schizophrenia, and he had failed numerous times to get treatment before he killed the 32-year-old woman eight years ago.

In a May 23, 1999 New York Times Magazine article, the newspaper explained how there were numerous attempts to get Goldstein help before he committed murder. But the system failed him like it failed many others. According to the Times: “They knew he was dangerous. In the two years before Kendra Webdale was instantly killed on the tracks, Andrew Goldstein attacked at least 13 other people. The hospital staff members who kept treating and discharging Goldstein knew that he repeatedly attacked strangers in public places. They knew because he had attacked them -- two psychiatrists, a nurse, a social worker and a therapy aide in two years' time. Over and over, his hospital charts carried warnings.”

The Times continued: “They knew. Long before this subway push … the state of the nation's shattered mental-health system all but assured such calamities. Yet for each hospitalization – there were 13 in 1997 and 1998 alone – Goldstein was given medication, then discharged, often after just a few days, to live on his own in a basement apartment. And now the consequences were front-page news: ‘Horror on the Tracks,’ read the tabloid headlines, ‘The Face of a Madman.’ ”

Editor's note: This blog post is an updated version of a post from 2007.

Badlands
By Bruce Springsteen

Lights out tonight
trouble in the heartland
Got a head-on collision
smashin' in my guts, man
I'm caught in a cross fire
that I don't understand
But there's one thing I know for sure girl
I don't give a damn
For the same old played out scenes
I don't give a damn
For just the in betweens
Honey, I want the heart, I want the soul
I want control right now
talk about a dream
Try to make it real
you wake up in the night
With a fear so real
Spend your life waiting
for a moment that just don't come
Well, don't waste your time waiting

CHORUS
Badlands, you gotta live it everyday
Let the broken hearts stand
As the price you've gotta pay
We'll keep pushin' till it's understood
and these badlands start treating us good

Workin' in the fields
till you get your back burned
Workin' 'neath the wheel
till you get your facts learned
Baby I got my facts
learned real good right now
You better get it straight darling
Poor man wanna be rich,
rich man wanna be king
And a king ain't satisfied
till he rules everything
I wanna go out tonight,
I wanna find out what I got
Well I believe in the love that you gave me

I believe in the love that you gave me
I believe in the faith that could save me
I believe in the hope
and I pray that some day
It may raise me above these

CHORUS

mmmmmmmm, mmmmm, mmmmmm

For the ones who had a notion,
a notion deep inside
That it ain't no sin
to be glad you're alive
I wanna find one face
that ain't looking through me
I wanna find one place,
I wanna spit in the face of these badlands

CHORUS

Reclaiming the anniversary: one father’s journey

By LAUREN HALE
Featured blogger

On April 9, 2009, I posted a moving story from Joseph Raso over at the Postpartum Dads Project. Susan Stone had originally posted this at Empowher.com and I reposted with her permission. The piece stayed with me.

On Wednesday night, I received an email from Joseph. It included a link to a video montage of his daughter, Crystal, set to the Rascal Flatts song, “Why.” Crystal tragically shot herself shortly after giving birth to her second child, Max. No one knew she had been struggling. They simply thought Crystal was being Crystal and worrying just as she always did.

No one was let in to help her. Her world turned upside down, inside out, and the only way she saw out was to leave her family behind in the most tragic way possible. Joseph has worked courageously and tirelessly to share Crystal’s story with as many people as he can in order to raise awareness of Postpartum Mood Disorders. And for that, I commend him. It is difficult work to take such a dark event and turn it into something so showered with light nothing can touch it.

Today, February 27, 2010, marks the second anniversary of Crystal’s tragic passing. Please join me in respectfully remembering her life. Join me in praying for her family, her parents, her husband, her children – praying they will continue to find strength and that God will bless them each and every day. Join me in sharing her story to raise awareness of Postpartum Mood Disorders. Click on the candle picture to light a virtual candle which will burn for 48 hours in honor of Crystal and mothers everywhere who needlessly lose their lives to Postpartum Mood Disorders each day.

I charge you with a simple task today. If you know an expectant or new parent, male or female, make a point of asking how THEY are doing. Encourage honesty. Don’t judge. Listen with compassion. Educate yourself and expectant/new parents about Postpartum Mood Disorders. Feel up to more? Challenge your local L&D to educate new moms if they aren’t already doing so. Please don’t let any more mothers suffer so alone and so silently. It’s just not okay.

(Before you click on the video below, please know that it made me bawl like a total baby after having read Joseph’s piece. And I don’t cry or bawl. Often. If you are not emotionally stable right now, you may want to skip the video. There is nothing graphic in it at all. It’s just very very moving. Kudos to Joseph for putting together such an amazing montage.)



The following is what Joseph shared with me via email when he sent me the video:

“This Saturday (02/27/10) is the second anniversary of Crystal’s passing. Mary, I, and the whole family miss her so. Seeing her children, Hannah and Max, almost daily is double edged sword. On one hand, being a huge part of their lives brings such joy, but on the other hand, every time we see them we are reminded WHY we are such a big part… it is because Crystal is gone. I thought you might want to keep this video in your library. Someday you might want to forward it to someone who could be at risk of postpartum depression. This song “Why,” by Rascal Flatts, not only tells the story of how our actions can affect others, it is also so beautiful, anybody could enjoy it. When I first heard it, I was reminded of what we went through after Crystal died. God Bless You.”

If you, a loved one, or a friend are coping with the recent loss of a loved one to suicide, please read this from the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.

If you are contemplating suicide, there IS hope. There are people who love you. People who care and want to help you heal. Need someone to talk to right now? Click here for a comprehensive list of resources in the US.

If you are struggling with a Postpartum Mood Disorder, contact Postpartum Support International’s warmline at 1.800.944.4PPD. (I may just be one of the people to return your call – I’m a volunteer for the warmline in addition to providing support in my home state of Georgia)

Bottom Line here? There is hope. There is help. And above all, you are absolutely NOT to blame. And above that? You WILL be well.

Please feel free to share any of the above information on your blogs or within your networks. In fact, I encourage you to do so. Below is a button for you to place on your blog in remembrance of Crystal. The only rule is that if you download it and post it, it must be linked to Joseph’s YouTube video.

Here is a list of blogs participating in today’s remembrance event. A big Thank You goes out to all of them for great posts! (If you posted and you’re not listed below, please let me know so I can add you to the list!)

* Postpartum Progress: A Father Remembers His Daughter
* Ivy’s Postpartum Blog: Never Assume that All is Blissful
* ICanGrowPeople: Remembering Crystal
* Psych Central Family Blog: Postpartum Depression is Painfully Real
* Stumbling Barefoot: Remembering Crystal