Riffing on the 12 Days of Christmas in a nod to the holiday season, I invite you to join me tonight on Twitter at 830pm to share words of wisdom for new moms facing or possibly facing a Perinatal & Anxiety Mood Disorder.
I’m sure we will end up with more than 12 things to say but I will bring 12 points on which we can focus our advice.
See you tonight!
One holiday weekend down, two more to go. And a parade of holiday get-to-gethers to survive in the meantime.
What’s a mama to do?
Slow down.
Breathe deeply.
Stay sane.
It’s a tall order for even those who aren’t fighting a mental health battle, right?
I hope you’ll join me tonight at #PPDChat on Twitter at 830pm as we go through some basic skills which you can tuck away in your brain as you move through this holiday season.
Come prepared with questions, vents from this past weekend, and get ready to unwind in a fantastic soothing way.
See you tonight at 830pm ET!
As the holiday season rapidly approaches and social appearances are greatly expected, those of us who struggle with mental health issues store up excuses to bow out of gatherings. While saying no is a phenomenal practice, there may be some gatherings which are required. We grit our teeth and bear it, hoping to repair our anxiety once it is over.
Tonight’s chat will focus on coping mechanisms for surviving the holiday season. Learning to say no, surviving when we are sucked into the vortex of family and work gatherings, and building self-care for our souls into the holiday season. ‘Tis the season to give of ourselves, but also TO ourselves. Be kind to yourselves these holidays – refill your pitcher as you pour to others.
Join me tonight at 830pm ET on Twitter. See you at #PPDChat!
In case you missed the chat, here’s the transcript:
Gratitude and PPD. These two concepts might seem like an odd pair. But in my experience, they are closely linked. I’ve read some posts and articles in which women actually stated that they were grateful for PPD. They explained how it helped turn their marriage around, led them to care for themselves better, showed them how strong they could be in difficult situations, and uncovered an underlying issue that needed to be addressed. On the other hand, other women responded to these statements, stating that they were not at all grateful for having had PPD. They explained how it was a miserable time and that nothing positive came out of it.
I want to honor those two differing perspectives regarding PPD and gratitude. Obviously, neither opinion is right or wrong, but I do want to bring up another point about PPD and gratitude. I found that gratitude was my saving grace as I pulled myself out of the panic and fog PPD led left me in. When I managed to make it through one day without obsessively worrying about something, I would congratulate myself for this progress and count it as something to be grateful for. When the insomnia settled and I was able to fall asleep easily, I was eternally grateful. When friends helped out by taking my dogs for walks, I thanked them profusely.
For some reason, even though I was so sad and scared about my illness, I was able to recognize my small steps towards healing and cherish small acts of kindness. While the depression and anxiety I experienced when my son was first born has lifted, my gratitude has remained. Though I wouldn’t state that I am grateful for having had PPD, I do believe I am a more grateful person now than I was before PPD hit. I am grateful for compassionate friends. I am grateful for my wonderful family. I am grateful for a clear mind. And most of all, I am grateful for my strength which carried me away from the dark clutches of PPD and has guided me through many experiences since then.
Has PPD affected your gratitude? Please join #PPDChat tonight at 830pm to chat with us about this topic!
-Ana Clare Rouds
There was a brilliant piece on October 18, at The New York Times, in the Opinion section, by Peter Kramer. The title is “Why Doctors Need Stories” and it came to my attention via the Facebook page of The Postpartum Stress Center.
Peter makes some excellent points in this rather lengthy opinion piece but this paragraph, found near the end, sums it up nicely:
“I don’t think that psychiatry — or, again, medicine in general — need be apologetic about this state of affairs. Our substantial formal findings require integration. The danger is in pretending otherwise. It would be unfortunate if psychiatry moved fully — prematurely — to squeeze the art out of its science. And it would be unfortunate if we marginalized the case vignette. We need storytelling, to set us in the clinical moment, remind us of the variety of human experience and enrich our judgment.”
Psychiatry treats the mind. The mind is what drives us, it is where our stories reside, where our choices are made. So it would seem obvious to keep the stories of our lives as part of the study, yes?
As research moves more toward numbers and the data including them, however, stories are being – as Kramer puts it – squeezed out. The art is fading. But it is, at the same time, making a comeback, fighting for breath in a stranglehold of data.
This is why our stories matter. While our words may not ever appear on the pages of the New England Journal of Medicine or be held in the hands of a renowned physician, they will be held and read by mothers who are walking the path we once walked. Every single story, every single word – it matters.
Tonight’s chat will explore the art of storytelling – multiple aspects of choosing to do so. It’s not easy to share our stories but we do it because we wish we had been able to read stories like ours when we fought in the dark.
Join me on Twitter at 830pm ET as we explore the art of storytelling as it relates to Perinatal Mood & Anxiety Disorders. We’ll cover all the standard questions – the who, what, where, why, when, and how. See you there!