Op Ed Piece on PPD by Brooke Shields

[lesliepear]

War of Words

By BROOKE SHIELDS

London

I WAS hoping it wouldn't come to this, but after Tom Cruise's interview with
Matt Lauer on the NBC show "Today" last week, I feel compelled to speak not just
for myself but also for the hundreds of thousands of women who have suffered
from postpartum depression. While Mr. Cruise says that Mr. Lauer and I do not
"understand the history of psychiatry," I'm going to take a wild guess and say
that Mr. Cruise has never suffered from postpartum depression.

Postpartum depression is caused by the hormonal shifts that occur after
childbirth. During pregnancy, a woman's level of estrogen and progesterone
greatly increases; then, in the first 24 hours after childbirth, the amount of
these hormones rapidly drops to normal, nonpregnant levels. This change in
hormone levels can lead to reactions that range from restlessness and
irritability to feelings of sadness and hopelessness.

I never thought I would have postpartum depression. After two years of trying
to conceive and several attempts at in vitro fertilization, I thought I would be
overjoyed when my daughter, Rowan Francis, was born in the spring of 2003. But
instead I felt completely overwhelmed. This baby was a stranger to me. I didn't
know what to do with her. I didn't feel at all joyful. I attributed feelings of
doom to simple fatigue and figured that they would eventually go away. But they
didn't; in fact, they got worse.

I couldn't bear the sound of Rowan crying, and I dreaded the moments my
husband would bring her to me. I wanted her to disappear. I wanted to disappear.
At my lowest points, I thought of swallowing a bottle of pills or jumping out
the window of my apartment.

I couldn't believe it when my doctor told me that I was suffering from
postpartum depression and gave me a prescription for the antidepressant Paxil. I
wasn't thrilled to be taking drugs. In fact, I prematurely stopped taking them
and had a relapse that almost led me to drive my car into a wall with Rowan in
the backseat. But the drugs, along with weekly therapy sessions, are what saved
me - and my family.

Since writing about my experiences with the disease, I have been approached
by many women who have told me their stories and thanked me for opening up about
a topic that is often not discussed because of fear, shame or lack of support
and information. Experts estimate that one in 10 women suffer, usually in
silence, with this treatable disease. We are living in an era of so-called
family values, yet because almost all of the postnatal focus is on the baby,
mothers are overlooked and left behind to endure what can be very dark times.

And comments like those made by Tom Cruise are a disservice to mothers
everywhere. To suggest that I was wrong to take drugs to deal with my
depression, and that instead I should have taken vitamins and exercised shows an
utter lack of understanding about postpartum depression and childbirth in
general.

If any good can come of Mr. Cruise's ridiculous rant, let's hope that it
gives much-needed attention to a serious disease. Perhaps now is the time to
call on doctors, particularly obstetricians and pediatricians, to screen for
postpartum depression. After all, during the first three months after
childbirth, you see a pediatrician at least three times. While pediatricians are
trained to take care of children, it would make sense for them to talk with new
mothers, ask questions and inform them of the symptoms and treatment should they
show signs of postpartum depression.

In a strange way, it was comforting to me when my obstetrician told me that
my feelings of extreme despair and my suicidal thoughts were directly tied to a
biochemical shift in my body. Once we admit that postpartum is a serious medical
condition, then the treatment becomes more available and socially acceptable.
With a doctor's care, I have since tapered off the medication, but without it, I
wouldn't have become the loving parent I am today.

So, there you have it. It's not the history of psychiatry, but it is my history, personal and real.
Brooke Shields, the author of "Down Came the Rain: My Journey Through Postpartum Depression," is starring in the musical "Chicago" in London.

Comments

[lesliepear.livejournal.com]

There are many women who can relate to Brooke's experience. They aren't as public with it. Even the wife of the governor of NJ dealt with it to the point of electroshock therapy - and she's only been speaking publicly about it in the past few years.