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• Depressed Mother. Nothing To See. Move Along.

  So here's the happy ending: Eventually, this depressed mom of a nine-month old was found on Baltimore's Skid Row and returned to safety in Rhode Island. Unfortunately, the rest of the story will make you want to bite someone. Read More... Posted Aug 05 2008, 09:00 AM by Adrienne Martini with | with 3 comment(s) Filed under: news, depression, PPD, rhode island, media, Baltimore, Katie Corcoran

• They Say: Depression Is Merely a Failure to Count Your Blessings

  James Gordon, the author of Unstuck: Your Guide for the Seven Stage Journey Out of Depression, can bite me. Oprah Magazine's Cathryn Jakobson Ramin can also bite me. Read More... Posted Jul 25 2008, 02:00 PM by Adrienne Martini with | with 6 comment(s) Filed under: depression, PPD, judith warner, they say, Cathryn Jakobson Ramin, Terese Borchard, James Gordon

• Climbing on my Soapbox

  With my first baby, I dropped into a depression so deep that something tragic probably would have happened had I waited 24 more hours before going to the ER. I am one of the lucky ones. Not every mom with postpartum depression has as many options as I did. But how wonderful it would be if there were at least a couple more choices?   Read More... Posted Jul 23 2008, 02:00 PM by Adrienne Martini with | with 1 comment(s) Filed under: PPD, legislation, Harry Reid, advocacy, Katherine Stone

• Drugging Mommy Up

  Like the working mom debate, the antidepressants during pregnancy debate is one of those that hits close to home for me. With my first baby, I was locked on a psych ward weeks after her birth. With my second baby, I took Zoloft throughout my pregnancy. While I'd love to be an expert in cute bunnies and duckies, instead clinically crazy moms is something I know more than a little bit about.  Which is why Bruce E. Levine's alternet piece on "Paxil babies" ruffles every last feather I have.  Read More... Posted Jun 12 2008, 02:30 PM by Adrienne Martini with | with 4 comment(s) Filed under: PPD, birth defects, zoloft, antidepressants, SSRI, paxil

• Mad Moms Make For Sad Moms

  I've always been amazed that it takes a scientific study to point out something that seems obvious. Like this one, just completed by the University of Haifa in Israel.   Read More... Posted Mar 16 2008, 02:30 PM by Adrienne Martini with | with 1 comment(s) Filed under: PPD, science, anger, Tara Parker-Pope, prenatal feelings, sadness

• Mood, moms and anthropology

  While maternal mental illness doesn't seem like an uplifting new year's post, the woman who occasioned the link made life easier for me and every other depressed or bipolar mom out there. Her groundbreaking work isn't talked about much anymore. In fact, until the New York Times ran her obit on Sunday, I hadn't even heard of the theories that made it possible for my OB/GYN to even suggest that I might be a depressed. Read More... Posted Dec 31 2007, 01:56 PM by Adrienne Martini with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: PPD, zoloft, Radke-Yarrow, maternal depression

• Misery Loves Company: MOTHERS Act Day

  As you are blogging away today in support of the MOTHERS Act, take a moment to check out Adrienne Martini’s personal essay, Misery, which will give you a startling look into the world of a mom battling postpartum depression. Hopefully Martini’s struggle is not a familiar one to you mom readers out there, but whether you’ve been there or not, her experience highlights the importance of keeping all of our family members’ safe after the addition of the newest and cutest one. Martini’s determination to have a second child after this time in hell is a brave one. Or an irresponsible one depending on your point of view, but also the greatest indication that life does not have to come to a standstill due to the treatable disease of PPD. Write your senator, write your own story, but write now to help pass a bill that will ensure mothers and families getting the resources they need to help fight this increasingly common and tragic health crisis. Posted Oct 24 2007, 12:15 PM by aprilpeveteaux with | with 4 comment(s) Filed under: depression, PPD, Adrienne Martini, BlogHer, Misery, MOTHERS Act

• Fathers Fight For Equality, In PPD

  A new study from Eastern Virginia Medical School's Center for Pediatric Research found that nearly as many new dads suffered signs of depression as new mothers do. The study looked at 5,000 two-parent families and found around 14 percent of mothers and 10 percent of fathers suffered signs of moderate to severe postpartum depression. Well, of course fathers suffer, what with the ripped vaginas, roller coaster hormone ride and leaking boobs....oh wait....  Researchers say this finding is important since it's been a long held belief that the moderate to severe postpartum depression experienced by women is a result of fluctuations in hormone levels following childbirth. This is obviously not the case for new fathers and doctors say there are "plausible" causes of postpartum depression. For example, sleep deprivation induced fatigue, the financial strain of a new baby and marital discord. Doctors say the study points out an even more important link between maternal postpartum depression and paternal postpartum depression suggesting practitioners make sure to screen new dads for depression when a new mom is diagnosed. Posted Jun 14 2007, 03:14 PM by Melissa Summers with | with 1 comment(s) Filed under: fathers, depression, post partum depression, PPD

• Post Partum Depression: You Are Not Alone

  Thordora isn't afraid to talk about it. She tells stories about her Post Partum depression on her blog, Spin Me I Pulsate, and she wants you to tell her your stories about PPD too. She is calling it the Post Partum Crazy Race. Thordora mentions how PPD is such a common thing, but people just don't talk about it unless you bring it up first. I find this to be true of other kinds of depression too. It is amazing when I tell a group of people about my experience with depression how many other people have gone through it. Post Partum seems to be the worst. First, you are a wreck and expected to take care of this tiny person (or people) and second, everyone expects you to be radiant with the joy of your new child.  In her post, Thordora recommends the book "Hillbilly Gothic: A Memoir of Madness and Motherhood" by Adrienne Martini. You can visit Adrienne Martini's blog Martinimade here. You really aren't alone, you know? There is another wonderful book about suffering from depression as a parent. It is by Tracy Thompson and it is called  "The Ghost in the House: Motherhood, Raising Children, and Struggling with Depression". Tracy has a blog too, it is called Maternally Challenged. Go tell Thordora your story. Let her know that she isn't the only one either.  Posted Jan 11 2007, 11:24 AM by Sarah, Goon Squad Sarah with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: postpartum support, post partum depression, Spin Me I Pulsate, PPD, Adrienne Martini, Hillbilly Gothic