Tag Archives: PPD

#PPDChat 06.13.16: Dads & PPD

Join us at 9pm ET on Twitter for a chat about Dads & PPDDads matter. Partners matter, period. Today, we’re focusing on Dads specifically because of the upcoming holiday, Father’s Day.

Dads are often the first ones to notice something isn’t quite right. They’re the ones on the front lines with us and their level of support (positive or negative) can seriously affect how well (and how quickly) a mom recovers from her Perinatal Mood & Anxiety Disorder.

The kicker, however, is that dads are also susceptible to mood disorders of their own as they start out into fatherhood as well – and they’re at an even higher risk of this if mom has her own issues going on.

Tonight, we’ll be discussing a whole range of things involving the way Perinatal Mood & Anxiety Disorders affect the family as a whole, with a specific focus on Dads. I hope you’ll join us at 9pm ET. See you then!

4.18.16 #PPDChat: Books for Moms

books for momBooks are powerful things. Within their pages, there is wisdom. There’s wit. There’s whimsy. There’s sheer magic. Books are answers. They’re hope. They’re stigma busters. They’re the shimmer of light at the end of a tunnel.

This is why, today, #PPDChat is proud to announce the development of a Book for Moms program. Here’s how it will work – through Amazon, #PPDChat will purchase books related to Perinatal Mood & Anxiety Disorders for any mom who requests it and can’t afford to make the purchase on her own. No mom should have to go without access to a book that may just help her see the light at the end of a very dark tunnel.

We need your help, though.

I’ve signed #PPDChat up for its very own Amazon account. The email associated is ppdchat(@) gmail (no dash between ppdchat). How can you help? Amazon now allows you to send allowances to people – so if you want to donate funds to help with these purchases (and I will provide documentation regarding purchases on a quarterly basis), all you have to do is send an allowance to #PPDChat using the email address above.

Right now, unfortunately, this isn’t a charitable donation but I hope to have 501(c)(3) status within the next 12 months at the very least so that in the future, this sort of thing will be a full charitable donation and we can expand the program even further.

Also, if you have written a book about Perinatal Mood & Anxiety Disorders that is available through Amazon, let me know so I can add it to our list of available books.

The chat will focus not only on the new program but also on the value of books in the healing process, and what books have helped our current community members.

Let’s get going!

See you tonight at 9pm ET!

#PPDChat 04.04.16: Navigating Myths & Stigma

Navigating PPD Myths & Stigma 9pm ET Twitter“It’s the happiest time of your life!”

“Why can’t you just get up?”

“Sleep it off.”

“Get over it.”

“You’re just being lazy.”

“It’s all in your head.”

“Oh, I didn’t have time to be depressed when I was a mother.”

These are just a few of the myths and stigmas we hear as mamas who struggle with Perinatal Mood and Anxiety Disorders. Things we need to battle against in addition to our already exhausting battle just to get our basic needs handled for ourselves and our families.

Tonight, during #PPDChat, we’ll be giving you a platform to exhale and let all of this out – to show what we fight against isn’t just all in our head. That it’s real, it’s frustrating, and we aren’t choosing depression – it’s more like depression wrapped itself around us and is slowly choking the life out of us.

So bring your myths. Bring the stigma you’ve encountered. Bring it ALL. Let it out and we’ll address all of it, together.

See you tonight at 9pm ET on Twitter, you strong mamas, you!

#PPDChat 01.11.16: That Pesky Thyroid

PPDChat 01-11-16: That Pesky Thyroid. Join us at 8pm ET on Twitter.Did you know that the thyroid can cause issues that mirror several symptoms of Perinatal Mood & Anxiety Disorders? It absolutely can. But – not a lot of people know it can. This is why tonight’s chat is SO important. I hope you will join us as we discuss the various ways in which the thyroid can cause symptoms which mimic PPD, how to deal with them, how to push your doctor to test for them, and why it is important to test for any thyroid issues.

Look forward to seeing you this evening at 8pm ET on Twitter!

 

#PPDChat: #EndPPDMyths with @HerStoriesTales

It’s almost here, y’all. Almost!

It has been killing me to keep this under wraps. Hold on to your hats because there’s a lot of info coming your way:

  • #PPDChat Announcement
  • Book Review
  • #EndPPDMyth Campaign
  • CONTEST (Yes, a CONTEST!)

Are you ready? Here we goooooo…..

 

PPDChat Mothering Darkness#PPDChat:

On Monday night, #PPDChat will be chatting with the fabulous Dr. Jessica Smock from @HerStoriesTales about the upcoming anthology, Mothering Through the Dark. Oh, and some of the contributors might just pop in. So you know you want to be there. Because this chat? This chat is going to be AHMAZING.

I use Twubs to keep up with chat. It makes things SO easy because it automatically adds the hashtag for you. Join our community! All you need is a Twitter account (and Internet)!

I’M SO EXCITEDfor Monday and hope to see you on Twitter at 9pm ET!!!!

MOTHERINGTHRUDARKAbout the Book

Mothering Through the Dark is a vivid and powerful anthology of essays from 35 amazing women writers who openly share their experiences as they navigated the world that is found in the dark valley of Perinatal Mood & Anxiety Disorders. In the book, not only will you find hope and truth, but you will find candid and bold honesty. Each essay portrays the reality that is motherhood for so many who fight against the vortex of Perinatal Mood & Anxiety Disorders. It is a book you need to have. It is a book that will make a difference in how women are heard and understood. I love that so many voices I know as well as new voices to me are in this book. I also love that so many more voices are bravely speaking up about these experiences. We will push stigma into a corner, together. I will caution, however, that if you are fragile or easily triggered, it may not be for you. Even though I am nearly a decade away from my last PMAD episode, I found myself immediately sucked back into several emotions because of the transparent and honest writing within the pages of this anthology.

In fact, there was one specific piece that hit me really hard, early in the book. It was during “A Different Shade of the Baby Blues” by Jill Robbins. On page 54, she writes about her reflection in the mirror:

“She had my hooked nose I’ve always hated and she was wearing my favorite purple sweater. But she didn’t look like me.

“She has no joy,” was the thought that rolled through my foggy mind as I studied my reflection.”

I’ve been there, after the birth of my second daughter. To look at yourself in the mirror and not recognize the reflection? Scary. Truly difficult to capture but Jill did it so well here that I immediately saw the reflection in the mirror from the first time I didn’t recognize myself (yes, it happened more than once). But in recalling this, I didn’t find a trigger, I found hope, grace, and a promise that even though I had been there, I knew my way out because here we are. And this is what is so powerful about this book. The moments it captures, albeit dark ones, reflect to us how far we have come since experiencing them. The power therein is priceless.

If you want to help promote the release of the book, you can also join the Thunderclap HerStories has set up. Go here!

Shatter the MythsAbout the #EndPPDMyths Campaign

We’ll be chatting with Jessica not only about pulling the anthology together, but also about the social media campaign they’re running next week to mark the release date of the book (which is Tuesday, November 3). According to their press release:

“The HerStories Project, a writing and publishing community for women, is organizing a week-long social media campaign during the first week of November called “Shatter The Myths.” The goal of the campaign is to end the widespread misconceptions about maternal mental health disorders that prevent mothers from speaking up about their struggles and getting help.”

How can you participate in their campaign?

Follow the hashtag. Share a photo of yourself with a quote that shatters a myth about Perinatal Mood & Anxiety Disorders or empowers fellow fighters, being sure to post it with #EndPPDMyths.

contestCONTEST

One last thing – even though the book releases next Tuesday, you will have a chance to win it during chat on Monday night! That’s right! One lucky participant will win a copy of Mothering Through the Dark. No pre-registration required. All you need to do is attend the chat (and of course, not be included in the anthology). Winner will be announced on Twitter shortly after chat and Random.org will be used to select the winner. If you don’t want to wait, you can pre-order the book here. Did I mention that ten percent of proceeds from this book go to support Postpartum Progress, a non-profit that is making a LOT of waves and progress right now? It’s a win win!