Depression After Delivery (DAD) is a nonprofit, national postpartum depression education/support organization
July 12, 2004, Raritan, NJ?The organization known as D.A.D. is asking for help. Depression After Delivery Inc., a national nonprofit providing support, education, and referral to families at risk during ante- and postpartum depression and related illnesses, is seeking to strengthen partnerships and collaborations so as to reach its 20th anniversary next year and beyond.Since its founding in 1985 by Nancy Berchtold, a Pennsylvania woman who experienced
postpartum complications, it has helped thousands of families with ante- and postpartum depression/psychosis (PPD) that, if unrecognized or inadequately treated, can result in tragic outcomes. D.A.D. offers a toll-free line, 1-800-944-4PPD, for families and professionals to obtain information.
It offers parent packs with national volunteer phone support network and support group listings, a national professional referral registry, professional pack with screening tools as well as publications and an educational video. D.A.D. first received attention more than a decade ago on the Phil Donahue show. Since then its volunteer board members have appeared on Geraldo, Oprah, Oxegen, Lifetime and other outlets as well as served as sources in Newsweek, Chicago Sun-Times, Parent, American Baby, and other publications. Its board members have authored books, journal articles, op-ed pieces, and other educational materials on the subject and served as expert legal consultants.
D.A.D. responds to more than 5,000 information/referral requests a year and has a family membership of more than 500. Its Web site, www.depressionafterdelivery.com, is an information clearinghouse for families and caregivers alike and receives more than 50,000 visitors a year. Funding woesTwo years ago, two pharmaceutical companies provided $75,000 for fundraising seed money. D.A.D.
paid $60,000 of those funds to a Florida fund development firm, which raised no funds. Currently the organization is seeking collaborative partnerships in order to survive, says Donna Cangialosi, the organization's only paid staff and part-time administrator. "We've invested so much in this organization it would be a shame to simply lock the door and walk away," she said.Parents say the organization's mission is imperative. Katherine Stone, a D.A.D. member who wrote a personal account of postpartum depression in the June 7, 2004 Newsweek, agrees.
"D.A.D. serves women all over the country by serving to provide sorely needed information on the various postpartum disorders that exist," says Stone of Fayetteville, Ga."When I went to see a therapist in desperate need of help, she told me about Depression After Delivery and thought I might find comfort with this group. I think it is an extremely important organization, and that every psychiatrist and obstetrician's office ought to know about it.
The idea that D.A.D. might go away because of lack of funding is simply unacceptable."D.A.D.
president Joyce Venis says the organization's mission is unique because it directly serves families. "I am greatly saddened by D.A.D.'s current situation," said Venis, a health care practitioner in Princeton, N.J. "Having been with the organization for almost forever, I know its importance. It is so difficult to have trusted supposed professionals to raise funds for us who failed to do so. The money invested is a great loss, but even more so is the faith we put in these people.
It is unconscionable for those of us who truly care." Serving a great needTestimonials on D.A.D.'s Web site, newsletter and news articles attest to the countless families who, through adequate education, support and treatment, experience positive outcomes. In worst cases severe PPD can be deadly?resulting in suicides and/or infanticides that shake society's soul. In 2001, for example, five Chicago-area women reportedly committed suicide from postpartum depression/psychosis. One D.A.D. member, Carol Blocker, has led the fight to recognize the deadly consequences of the illness.
Her daughter, Melanie Stokes, was a pharmaceutical sales manager and wife of a surgeon who leapt to her death three months after the birth of her first child. The Melanie Stokes Postpartum Depression Research and Care Act, introduced by Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Ill) (HR 846/S 450), has bipartisan support and awaits a full hearing that would help fund essential care and preventative/screening measures. If passed, the Mental Health Parity Act, introduced by the late Sen. Paul Wellstone (D-Minn.), could also help families in postpartum crises.
Up to 80 percent of new mothers experience the "baby blues," a mild mood disorder that includes crying and feeling low and lasts a few days or weeks. Some 10 to 15 percent experience a mild to severe clinical depression, which may include insomnia, anxiety, panic attacks, fears/obsessive behaviors, thoughts about hurting the baby/self or inability to care for self/baby. One or two in 1,000 new moms experience psychosis, a break from reality and a medical emergency.For more information or to donate to the organization, visit www.depressionafterdelivery.com or contact Cangialosi at 1-800-944-4PPD. -30-Sidebar: Postpartum Help for FathersPostpartum depression and related illness were recognized as a unique biological phenomenon in birth mothers as early as 400 A.D. by Hippocrates, the father of medicine, however, today's fathers and adoptive or foster parents can also be at risk.The June 14, 2004 issue of Medical News Today reported that StatsCan Canadian Community Health Survey on Mental Health and Well Being found that men can also be vulnerable to depression during an exhaustive or stressful transition to parenthood.
The article calls men's mental health in general a "sleeper issue" that is just beginning to receive attention (www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=9475). In addition, fathers, may have a need for support and information when their partners are undergoing PPD. Depression After Delivery Inc. is a national nonprofit organization providing support, education, and referral to families at risk during ante- and postpartum depression and related illness. It offers a special web page for fathers at www.depressionafterdelivery.com.
Fathers can request an info pack at 1-800-944-4PPD that includes a national volunteer phone network of fathers, mothers and others. Fathers can find additional support at the Web site www.postpartumdads.org.-30-Editor's note: For more information:Donna Cangialosi, Administrator Depression After Delivery908-541-9712; e-mail protected from spam botsJoyce Venis, RNC, DAD President, 609-683-1000 or other board member through CangialosiCarol Blocker, Stokes Foundation, 312-225-1310Katherine Stone, e-mail protected from spam bots.
Who Is Right ? Brooke Shields or Tom Cruise?
(ContentDesk) July 5, 2005 -- The recent press on the postpartum depression experienced by Brooke Shields has brought a highlight on opinions expressed by Tom Cruise on his anti-psychiatry position. The debate has become extremely heated as many women feel Cruise's position diminished their personal experience with post-partum depression. So who is telling the truth?
Ironically, they both are.According to the Postpartum Resource Center of Texas, Postpartum depression occurs in 1 of 10 women.
It is marked by drastic mood swings, feelings of despair, crying spells and avoidance of their new baby.
Postpartum psychosis can result in hallucinations, delusions, severe insomnia, extreme agitation and suicidal or homicidal thoughts.
For most of us the idea of injuring a newborn makes us cringe and seek revenge. But for those women who have suffered the acute symptoms of postpartum depression or psychosis, they are haunted by such thoughts and will seek any...
Who Is Right ? Brooke Shields or Tom Cruise?
Depression > Who Is Right ? Brooke Shields or Tom Cruise?
Technique Offers Hope for Trauma and PTSD Victims
Emotional trauma is surfacing as a serious byproduct to the war in Iraq. The tsunami in Asia, with its devastation, is creating thousands of new trauma victims. Many war veterans and victims of violent crime struggle with this debilitating disorder. Emotional pain that continues for months, years or even a lifetime following a traumatic event may be eventually diagnosed as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Each day, emotional stress cripples millions of people.Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT), a little known method, is creating a flurry of excitement with those who have discovered it and offers new hope.
Rich, a Vietnam veteran in therapy for 17 years with PTSD, had over 100 haunting war memories, many of which he relived daily. He suffered from insomnia, even with strong medication. He had a major height phobia. After using EFT, every trace of those problems vanished. Another trauma victim says "I unplugged that core and everything began to empty out- like washing out...
Technique Offers Hope for Trauma and PTSD Victims
Depression > Technique Offers Hope for Trauma and PTSD Victims
Depression Glass Trivia
Depression glass facts make for interesting conversation,especially when you're at a convention or talking amongstother Depression glass aficionados. So here are a few itemsto get you started so you, too, can have some meaningfulknowledge to put on the plate when you and your Depressionglass collector friends gather ?round and chat.English Hobnail leads the pack as the design with around the most available pieces still out there for collectors.Westmoreland Glass Company produced the English Hobnailpattern from the late 1920s to the 1980s, with theDepression-era pieces made in eight different colors. Intotal, 175 pieces of this particular design were created.Rose Cameo, conversely, holds the record for the leastnumber of pieces available in a pattern. The BelmontTumbler Company held the patent for Rose Cameo, and onlysix pieces of this design made it to the marketplace: aplate, a footed sherbet, a footed tumbler, a berry bowl,and a 5-inch and 6-inch bowl. Because Belmont manufacturedonly...
Depression Glass Trivia
Depression > Depression Glass Trivia
Mental Health Stigma -- what can we do about it?
Copyright 2005 Sonia Devine
What is Stigma?
Stigma is the use of stereotypes and labels when describing someone, and it is often attached to people who suffer from mental health issues. We don't fully understand how the brain works yet, but one thing we DO know is that it is an organ. Yet our society doesn't readily accept brain disorders the way we accept other organ disorders. Why is this so?
Stigma is a harsh reality for people who have mental health problems, because it prevents them from enjoying a normal and productive life. So many people today feel uncomfortable about mental health issues, despite the fact that there is growing evidence that more and more people are developing these problems.
In fact, many people are so uncomfortable with the stigma that they would rather suffer in silence than get help they need.
Here are a few of the most common misconceptions about mental health problems:
* Mentally ill...
Depression > Mental Health Stigma -- what can we do about it?