My company also produces live video broadcasts that – like my radio show — are dedicated to helping people solve their health issues. On January 16th, our broadcast, which will be available live over the Internet, will feature clinical psychologist, Dr. Shoshana Bennett, author of Beyond the Blues: Prenatal and Postpartum Depression, a Treatment Manual. In this live video seminar, Dr. Bennett will cover many issues regarding surviving Postpartum Depression, as well as ways to get support and recover. She will take questions via phone and email – and will be geared toward both parents and practitioners.

I hope that you and your blog visitors will be able to join us. You can go to http://drshoshlive.eventbrite.com/ for more information. And please feel free to email or call me, as well. My contact information is below.

Kris Costello
http://www.wellnesstalkradio.com
kris@wellnesstalkradio.com
805 717 0795

I heard of this strange case too. It is in Utah, Dahhhhh…

I read that there were so many judges. I have a friend who lives in Cache Valley where there was a trial but that the judge who did the trial was really old and retired. That he said in his judgement that Post Partim Depression was in fact a chemical thing.

I got a divorce. it took over five years and I had one judge. I am thinking that the people in Utah, which is also the adoption warehouse state dragged this out, with all those judges. Utah is not a fair in courts. LDS families are favored. There is a group of us following this story. The owners of the adoption agency had their own agenda. We read all that stuff that they did in Western Samoa. How could they be good parents let alone decent role models to children.
Utah needs to catch up with the real world. Educate the judges and get the Book of Mormon out of the courts.

The crazy part of this story in Utah, is that the judge, Stantion Taylor ignored the fact that the mother suffered from PPD and actually called it a “chemical imbalanced” when in fact it is a hormonal imbalance. So even a judge who presided over the case was not educated on PPD yet he continued to preside and never educated himself as to the effect it can have on a mother especially one who gave birth to twins.

Interesting enough, it was a child custody battle. I was sent the link as in Utah you can actually hear the oral arguments. The mother was appealing to the Utah court of appeals. Seems the adoption agency took their child that they adopted from Asia, and this same adoption agency owners were indicted and convicted of federal crimes. The adoption agency was called Focus on Children, The owners are or were I should say Scott and Karen Banks. I googled them and WOW, what losers. Seems they ran a corrupt adoption agency that bartered Samoan children for food stuffs.

So the mother who suffered PPD was looking for respite care and these loser adoption agency owners were looking to take the child from them and then they wanted to keep the child. The oral arguments talks about these Scott and Karen Banks people and their probation and some other adopted kids that they adopted but did not keep them in their home, and there was one child who was severly neglected in their home.

For all woment who have suffered from post partim depression, we should be outraged by this judge in Logan, Utah who ignored this fact and called it a “chemical problem”. It is truely unbelivable that in this year 2009, such a judge would sit at a

Most groups supporting it take pharma money.

Thanks to Dr. Coburn

Claire’s above comments are right on the money! We don’t need legislation, we need education and destigmatizing by good public relations by all involved: providers, patients, families, and other invested parties. Screening forms have limited applicability, and let me remind these good intended souls promoting this legislation about one simple fact that Claire alluded to as well: it takes were I work these days at least 6 to 12 weeks to get an appointment with a private psych doc, and while maybe a bit sooner at the community mental health clinic I work at, still at least 2 to 4 weeks. So, you as an OB MD or Pediatrician or internist are just going to tell the patient to see a psych MD? No, they are going to prescribe to the patient the latest, greatest med that the reps have been pushing in their offices, and some of these patients will be inappropriately medicated. Again, don’t believe me, just talk to these docs who see straightforward depression without pregnancy involved these days.

This is a set up folks, well intended or not. Dr Grohol and Ms Stone I am sure want the best for people who need it, however it is not by this method it will do best in the end.

By the way, Sally, I appreciate the support. Hope the next issue we are congruent on as well.

If on the East Coast, have a nice weekend outside! Not that I don’t wish well elsewhere, but it looks nice on the left side of the US this weekend, hope for you at other areas too!

therapyfirst, board cert psych MD

First, I support medical research. If there is a need for post partum depression research then conduct it like every other research study. Get a separate informed consent document. Submit the research project to the IRB. This doesn’t require a special law.

Second, as others have pointed out who knows if this will even help. Many of those with post partum depression/psychosis who have been in the news WERE being treated. Perhaps it was the treatment that made things worse? We don’t know. Would it have made a difference if they were treated earlier? We don’t know.

Third, Sally makes a good point about the referrals. All fine and good if you have health insurance. What about those who don’t? Where do they go? Onto a waiting list for community mental health care? When will they be seen and by whom? The type of care those without resources receive is pitiful, and this needs to be addressed before people are referred to bad care.

Fourth, I don’t (and there are other women who feel the same way) want to be approached to fill out a a survey where someone who probably isn’t even a mental health professional decides I need psych treatment. How can they (a nurse, etc) make that determination based on a 10 question survey that is asked when I am emotional from just having had a baby?

Fifth, I do believe this will lead to women who are simply dealing with temporary hormone issues onto medication they don’t need.

Sixth, there are other ways of educating women about post partum depression without passing a law like this. Most of the women I know are already well aware of what post partum depression is.