This is why people are ashamed (postpartum depression)

Re: This is why people are ashamed (postpartum depression)

• AmandaJLewis member

  

  October 2013

  I totally agree, they are worlds apart. But it isn't talked about enough and people don't understand the signs and differences between the two.  I think mental illness has such a stigma surrounding it that people often don't understand why you can't just be happy/normal.
  

  Report0 Reply
• northhillsbride member

  

  October 2013 edited October 2013

  Interesting viewpoint - I'm not sure I would have put a heavy stigma on PPD because of this incident; rather, I would have put it on mental illness instead. And isn't PPD a form of mental illness?

  And maybe this will bring PPD forward as a "real" disease. I think way too many people, and doctors, dismiss PPD as not "real".

  This case is just another argument to put more focus on mental health issues. This woman used her car, not a gun, to wreak havoc.

  Do family members, healthcare providers, friends, not understand the severity of mental health disabilities? If not, why not? If so, why isn't more done to help these ill people? Is it because of cost, care available...?

  I think of the Mom in Missouri, I believe it was, who, last year, foiled a plot by her son to stage an attack on a movie theater (similar to the Colorado incident). If it wasn't for her actions, more people would have fallen victim to the hands of someone who has his own demons to fight.

  If mentally ill people "want" to hurt others (and I say want loosely because, I think, in a right frame of mind they wouldn't want to necessarily hurt others), they will find a way. I think it should be our job to help them from getting to a point of desperation that is, mostly, out of their control.

  -----------

  Ok, I went back and re-read based on Amanda's response. I see what you are saying - difference between PPD and PP Psychosis.

  I know nothing about the latter, so this would be a good time for medical providers to educate the media who, rightfully or not, educate us on the differences.

  
  My three sons!
  

  Report0 Reply
• SeeMaeRun member

  

  October 2013

  I hate that the media continues to immediately draw a parallel between mental illness and violence. Yes, it can sometimes be the cause, but here are a few facts regarding this issue. I'm currently coordinating a forum regarding mental illness, so it's a particular passion of mine at the moment.

  • “Research has shown that the vast majority of people who are violent do not suffer from mental illnesses (American Psychiatric Association, 1994).”
  • “. . . [T]he absolute risk of violence among the mentally ill as a group is still very small and . . . only a small proportion of the violence in our society can be attributed to persons who are mentally ill (Mulvey, 1994).”
  • In a 1998 study that compared people discharged from acute psychiatric inpatient facilities and others in the same neighborhoods, researchers found that “there was no significant difference between the prevalence of violence by patients without symptoms of substance abuse and the prevalence of violence by others living in the same neighborhoods who were also without symptoms of substance abuse (Steadman, Mulvey, Monahan, Robbins, Applebaum, Grisso, Roth, and Silver, 1998).”
  • People with psychiatric disabilities are far more likely to be victims than perpetrators of violent crime (Appleby, et al., 2001). Researchers at North Carolina State University and Duke University found that people with severe mental illnesses—schizophrenia, bipolar disorder or psychosis—are 2 ½ times more likely to be attacked, raped or mugged than the general population (Hiday, et al., 1999).

  Report2 Reply
• northhillsbride member

  

  October 2013 edited October 2013

  Mae - not to discredit your studies, but is there anything more recent? Those studies are between 15 and 20 yrs old and I would be interested to see how the numbers change (if they do) as media, accessibility to weapons, etc. has increased.

  I ask because, while I agree that there is no parallel of mental illness = violence, it seems that in the majority of the recent high-profile incidents, mental instability of some sort has played a role. (The shooting at Fort Hood; the shooting at the Capitol last week; the shooting in Sandy Hook.)

  At the same time, not every violent act is related to a mental illness; I mean, the guy who robbed a local Subway last night is probably not ill. There's a lot more of those types of crimes than the high-profile ones we hear about.

  
  My three sons!
  

  Report0 Reply
• AmandaJLewis member

  

  October 2013

  the post gazette just did a week long report about the current state of the mental health programs in the area since Mayview closed 5 years ago. There was a lot of stories about funding being cut, services dropped and families hands being tied because they cannot navigate the current system or else the system fails their loved ones.
  
  However, none of that is exactly PPD, which is a period of depression specifically caused by giving birth. It sounds as though this woman had a history of mental illness and having her baby may have complicated matters.
  

  Report0 Reply