Thursday, April 17, 2008
Post-Partum Depression and Living With Cancer
Before today I had never really thought about the issue of postpartum depression. I had heard of it before, but I never took it very seriously. Today in class though, I tried to put myself in the shoes of the women experiencing depression. It would make life and motherhood so complicated. It's a good thing that we have psychologists and whole centers devoted to providing therapy to these women. Another thing that I think makes a large difference with cancer and postpartum depression, inescapable things that people live with, is the sharing of experiences. Although it may not help solve the problem, knowing that other people are experiencing what you are makes you feel less alone and less strange. Women can also then communicate what methods have been particularly useful for them in coping with disease and depression. I assume that Audre Lorde would agree that sometimes, advice is better received from someone who has been through what you have. Such people can understand you better and understand how to interact and communicate with you better than a doctor who has never personally dealt with the problem. Also, your contemporaries are more prone to see your situation as a whole experience, to listen in addition to suggesting solutions. This is something that Lorde did not find in her interactions with the doctors while she had cancer. Many of them acted like dictators saying, "If you do not do exactly what I tell you to do right now without questions you are going to die a horrible death," versus, "You have a serious condition going on in your body and whatever you do about it you must not ignore it..." giving the patient more personal power. Lorde saw more value in the "African way of perceiving life, as experience to be lived rather than as problem to be solved." I feel like this would be a very healthy way for women with postpartum to approach their situation. They are not a problem to be solved, an anomaly, they are human people experiencing life. And maybe through some communication and understanding we can figure out how to improve the quality of that experience.
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3 comments:
I agree. I never heard the details about post-partum depression until the great presentation. It really provided some insight on the issue. I can imagine this type of depression is not easy for the mother. I'm sure pregnancy and having a child is not the easiest thing. There is much stress involved and several responsibilities. Sometimes the media constructs a negative perception of post-partum mothers. I am really happy that there are clinics and counselors designed to address this problem. It is a serious issue and must be respected as any other problem. I think many people criticize women who suffer this depression rather than help them, which is definitely not the way to approach the problem.
I am glad that my presentation made you all think about the issue! One of the main things I'm focusing on is how little information there is out there about PPD and how our perception of it is often skewed because of how it is presented in the media. I think society is taking steps to fix this problem, but more needs to be done.
Two things. First, I never heard of post-partum depression until it was brought up in our class discussion. It seems like it is very important to have people around you are supportive of the whole process of pregnancy and giving birth, as well as people who have been through similar experiences.
Second, you mentioned the way doctors deliver diagnosis sounds like a dictator giving an order. This would be an interesting issue for me to pay attention. I know at Emory medical school, there is a class you take as a first year medical student, to learn how to give patient bad news, how to encourage your patient to quit smoking etc. I should make sure that when I interact with patient, I would not have authoritative air around me, but make myself accessible for the patient to be able to discuss their concerns with me without feeling pressures.
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