Baby-Mama Drama

by Harlequin

So we have all heard of postpartum depression, if not through a personal experience then at least through Tom Cruise’s misinformed ramblings on the subject.  Although he later retracted his opinions, I have to admit that sometimes I fantasize about Katie killing baby Suri in a fit of postpartum rage.  It would be fitting and perhaps the best thing for the child, wouldn’t it?

But horribly inappropriate jokes aside, I associated postpartum depression with maniacal mothers murdering their newborns. For example, the much publicized Andrea Yates case that demonized the defendant. After dispelling my ignorance through research, I found that my perceptions of postpartum depression and psychosis were mostly inaccurate.

Just look at this list of symptoms of PPD. Sadness, hopelessness, low self-esteem, guilt, sleep disturbances, eating disturbances, exhaustion, emptiness, low energy, easily frustrated – welcome to any given night of my life, feelings courtesy of whichever insensitive boy I happen to be seeing. In fact, PPD (obviously quite similar to depression) is actually very common. Many new mothers (anywhere from 50% – 80%) experience the “baby blues” for a short time. A much smaller group (around 10%) experience PPD for much longer. I mean, let’s face it: if I pushed an 8 pound human out of my twat, I might get pretty damn depressed too. There is such enormous responsibility attached to raising a child – both emotionally and physically – not to mention the havoc it wreaks on your body. Pregnancy and its aftermath (such as breastfeeding) make up one long hormonal roller coaster ride.  And psychiatrists recognize that these drastic changes in hormone levels can affect neurotransmitters.

Mothers killing their children often results from a more extreme form of PPD, which is more commonly (and sometimes separately) called postpartum psychosis. And this only happens with less than 1% of new mothers!  Murdering one’s child should not be dismissed, but it should be dealt with in the context of insanity.  Maternal infanticide is not a justifiable act, but it is explainable – those are two different things. Prevention and care for pregnant women and new mothers should be the focus first of all.  In addition there should be a better understanding of PPD. Treatment is essential.  In the actual murder cases, however, tragedy often struck because those around the new mothers ignored all the warning signs. There should be a level of understanding of these acts.  And there is, just not in our country.  In an article for the American Journal of Psychiatry, Margaret Spinelli states “the basis of infanticide legislation in most countries besides the United States reflects concern for the biologically ‘vulnerable’ mental state of women after childbirth.” Over here, the postpartum insanity plea is a gamble for women, which is how Mrs. Yates ended up in prison for life.  I’m not saying every Medea should get a freebie when it comes to throwing their kids off a bridge (although I wouldn’t blame my mother for wanting to), but come on – we let serial rapists get off (no pun intended!) with the insanity plea often enough.

Does Andrea Yates look healthy to you?

Does Andrea Yates look healthy to you?

So in a way, comments such as those from Mr. Cruise (things along the lines of “There’s no such thing as a chemical imbalance”) undermine the issues facing women in terms of pregnancy – not to mention all people affected by mental illnesses. Even in 700 BC, Hippocrates wrote about the emotional problems he observed in pregnant women. Looking at PPD today, it is clearly a very real disorder. And the psychosis that sometimes results is tragic. After the dismal sentencing of Andrea Yates, the APA (or rather the American Psychiatric Association) issued a statement backing the use of postpartum psychosis as an insanity plea in hopes that it would change the way in which such cases were handled.  As Daniel Katkin states in this fascinating Time article, “The mistake is to think that insane people are incapable of making plans…The reality is that crazy people also make plans, but they make crazy plans.”

Looking at the world around me, I couldn’t agree more.

If you know anyone who is suffering from PPD, please do not treat it lightly.  Look at this site for help and please do something.  For further information, the Online PPD Support Group is right here.

Some interesting links:

  • Men can get PPD too!
  • Brooke Shields’ response to Tom Cruise
  • The latest slander from the presidential campaign – Obama supports infanticide!
    ***a note on this last one – Alan Keyes commented during the 2004 campaign for Illinois senator that Jesus would not vote for Barack Obama because he supported infanticide. I was not aware of this comment when I wrote this post, but it seems all too ironic and fitting given the looming election.