Last night’s episode of the ABC television show “Private Practice” was promoted, both to the public and to the members of Postpartum Support International, as one about postpartum depression, but — surprise, surprise — it immediately devolved into a show about postpartum psychosis and …
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Two words – TELEVISION SHOW! This show does an amazing job every week presenting the facts about REAL medical conditions. It juggles the medical conditions and the personal drama. Lets take a step back and reevaluate the fact that this is a work of fiction. If you want an accurate presentation of postpartum psychosis get a copy of the DSM Casebook, not a TELEVISION SHOW. Let’s remember suspension of disbelief, it is what makes FICTION FICTION.
Anthony,
Perhaps you can explain that to the women who’ve emailed me, horrified.
I also find your comment somewhat contradictory. You reinforce that the show is fiction and shouldn’t be taken seriously, yet you also appreciate how well they present medical facts, which leads me to believe you think that is important regardless of the fact that the show is fiction.
In this case, they presented the facts wrong.
I don’t know why I thought to google last nights episode, but I felt like someone else must have found it irresponsible. I am glad to see I am not alone.
I have suffered with postpartum ocd/anxiety for almost two years, I love my son and have been tortured by intrusive thoughts and I am very sensitive to the media. When I see things like this episode it really affects me.
I had trouble sleeping when my son was born for fear of SIDS.. I drank coffee to stay awake and was to over caffinated to sleep when he napped.. I talked alot when I was around other adults because that is what you do when you are home alone all day.
This is how it is for alot of mothers with postpartum anxiety…..and even those who don’t have postpartum.
To show this as a sign of psychosis along with hearing your baby cry… when they are actually crying.. leaves alot of women dealing with fears and anxiety scared.
These can be symptoms of psychosis, and mania is definatly something to be taken seriously… but for those of us who have to deal with the horrible fear of intrusive thoughts, this just leads to an uninformed self diagnosis and more fear and worry and the cycle continues.
If ABC can get the medical jargon down and the set design down, then they can certainly afford to get it right on this… a very serious matter amoung women. And lets not forget what the target audience is on Private Practice? Yup, the same women they showed in a horribly ignorant light
Nicole,
I’m very sorry for your experience but at the same time so happy you’ve shared it here. (I personally know how terrifying it is to have intrusive thoughts.) Your poignant comment is the perfect example of how shows like the one last night can affect new mothers. It doesn’t matter whether it’s fiction. It just doesn’t. Women are so confused and vulnerable when suffering perinatal mood and anxiety disorders that we can be deeply affected by lots of things while we argue with ourselves internally about what’s wrong with us and what we should do about it.
When I had my two daughters each time I had bad bouts of post-partum depression. I felt exhausted, afraid, weepy and very overwhelmed. I also had not help and had not been around babies before. It was a hell for one. When I spoke about how I felt, no one listened, so that added guilt to the misery.
This was in the 1980′s before as much was known about these conditions. I was angry with myself too. It was just awful. Women deserve support while recovering from the hardest “labor” they may ever do and starting the hardest job they will ever “LOVE”. Please, be kind folks.
I did not see the episode; however, what prompted me to read the article was seeing the subject matter. I am in “Private Practice” as a psychotherapist. Due to the nature of how postpartum depression and the “baby blues” can be so common, I am absolutely upset at the misrepresentation of the episode.
Women, men…well, come on, society need to be educated of the differences which will create awareness but also validation. Support, support support – not ratings, folks.
While I understand the “it’s just TV” argument, it does not work. First of all, what they do affects how people think about things (right or wrong). They have now hurt a lot of people by their portrayal of postpartum and made it a lot harder for women to seek treatment or admit that they have it. My wife went through some bad postpartum and it was tough enough to get through without TV programs trying to get ratings by sensationalizing it. As has been said before, these are good Mums who are just having a very tough time. With proper treatment and support, they can do great and become great mothers. If you turn them into the Boogy Woman and make it harder for them to get support, then I hold you responsible for the consequences. This show has undone some of the great work done to bring postpartum into the light.
Before you just discount the power and responsibility of programs like this, consider this. What would you do if the next episode said that “Your Name” at “Your Real Address” is a serial killer and pedophile? After all, it is just TV. Of course, the some of death threats would be real and lives could be ruined or ended… Television affects how society sees things and as been said before “with great power comes great responsibility”.
Unfortunately, this show will have a long term negative impact on many families.
Private Practice has always been, and will always be a second rate excuse for a tv show. Greys Anatomy is almost as bad.
I figure anyone watching and believing anything they see in Private Practice is likely to believe stupid things anyways. I doubt the show spread stupidity to anyone who wasn’t infected already.
I found the episode to be an inaccurate representation of PPP, but I thought it was an excellent episode. I think it was VERY important to have the conversation that Violet, Pete and Cooper had. A lot of viewers probably were thinking that woman shouldn’t have her baby back, but they showed why she SHOULD have her baby back.
I suffered serious PPD when I had my son and I’m currently awaiting the arrival of my new child. My husband and I both watched the television show and even with my history of PPD, he doesn’t think I’m unfit to care to be a mother and he’s not worried that I’m going to hurt our children.
Also too, this woman came to get help, thus showing that HELP is offered to those new mothers suffering from PPD and PPP. Its a “medical drama” meaning they are going to take cases at the most extreme because its a drama.
And final point, are people really going to get their medical advice and medical education from a television show. I don’t think so.
As a psychiatrist, although I did not see this show, I have seen how TV and movies portray mental health issues, and the consensus is the majority overtypifies symptoms and issues, as mainstream illness is not “exciting” enough to warrant a show to titilate/wow audiences.
My advice, although wary to give it, is ask NAMI to get involved if they see it as a viable issue. They have the manpower to mobilize people.
And, in addressing some of the comments above, believe me when I say this as patients always say something in my office when there has been something presented in the visual media, TV/movies/internet: if it was presented, then people believe it until you can repeatedly refute it with responsible facts and direction to reliable sources.
After all, we live in a culture that lives by the adage, “if it was shown, or in print, then it must be true”.
Ugh!
Therapfirst,
Thanks for your comment. I know that logically it seems like people should know this is just a TV show and they shouldn’t take it seriously. But the women who go through this are vulnerable and questioning themselves and this kind of discourse — even if it’s fiction — can make them even more afraid and confused.
Personally, I get my ridiculous unrealistic medical info from Scrubs.
The habit of picking out weird unpronounceable highly-unlikely medical disorders as the subject of a medical drama is so widespread and has gone on for so many decades that it’s a cultural joke. I kind of liked the worms-in-the-brain “crossover” episode. I must know a half dozen people suffering from that.
While I did not see the episode, after reading this article and the posts by other individuals, I believe that ABC acted irresponsibily, not necessarily by airing the episode, but by not providing the additional information to viewers on the facts of postpartum depression and psychosis. I was appalled to read how ABC handled the situation and am disgusted with the way the media chooses to sensationalize a rare effect of a common mental illness.
I suffered from postpartum depression over 5 years ago. Never once did I consider harming my daughter; I turned my pain inward, with cutting and suicide attempts. As indicated by the statistics, most women who suffer from postpartum continue to care for their children and would never consider hurting their children.
Ever since the case of the Texas woman who drowned her children, the media has jumped on the “postpartum” bandwagon and, as is usually the case, has misrepresented the illness and has only made the stigma worse. This episode will do more damage than good because, like it or not, the average viewer does believe what they see on television and they are quick to judge, especially in the absence of credible and reliable information. I am disheartened by ABC’s irresponsibility and will happily boycott anything and anyone that chooses to misrepresent and misinform on this subject.
ABC’ “Private Practice” is not the only television show to depict postpartum psychiatric issues in a very negative light. FOX’s show “House” also had an episode about a woman suffering from postpartum psychosis attempting infanticide. In the show she tried to suffocate her baby and was deemed not to be fit to see her child. It disgusts me what shows will do to get viewers. “House” is a medical drama known for being pretty scientifically accurate when it comes to the medical diagnoses and it saddens me to think that they would depict this idea of postpartum psychosis as fact just as “Private Practice” did.
I don’t really watch “Private Practice.” I watched a few minutes of the series premiere, and I’ve been watching it’s crossover episodes with “Grey’s Anatomy” but no, I’m not a fan. I do, however, enjoy “Grey’s Anatomy” and I will continue to faithfully watch it. Why? Because I like the characters. I also happen to like Tom Cruise’s acting (Magnolia, Eyes Wide Shut, Born on the Fourth of July, Jerry Maguire, etc. are some of my favorite films), which is why I have no intention of boycotting his films either.
come on, it’s just a TV show
people should know that isn’t real
that can’t believe everything they see
sorry my bad english.
As someone whose mother had PPP on and off for 20 years after my birth, till her death. It is nice to see the mother’s natural love myth being chipped away at.
You do not have to drown your child to kill it. You can drive them to it.
I was lucky she died first.
Also I never developed a “maternal” bond with her where her abuse reflected on me. I knew she was a horrible person, and it was not my fault.
Mothers are not holy things, they are human, and as likely if not more than a father, to abuse children.
Luckily my father was very nurturing. And apologetic about marrying a psychotic b$tch. It caused him a great deal of guilt, as he found after she died, how she was when he was not around.
We are so blinded by cultural perceptions that mothers are saints, and fathers not as naturally gifted with children, that many men doubt what they see in the mothers of their children.
How do you admit to yourself that you married a monster and gave her victims to torture?
Private practice was one of my favorite shows until last night. You have no right to imprint on my mind such violence. I don’t watch shows that are violent. It’s my choice and you took that away. The image still haunts me. Shame on you!
I cannot even express how horrified and dismayed I am by stuff like this. Those who think it is “just a show” should tell that to the people who sent me to the mental ward for having intrusive thoughts! It’s media hype like this that leads people to think that if a woman has a bad fleeting thought or is a little blue postpartum, that she is automatically a potential child abuser and needs to be locked up immediately. I have never hurt or neglected my baby, but the fear of doing so drove me to get help. It took many years to even get a correct diagnosis!! The last thing the public needs is more disinformation.
Sorry, but I’m pretty annoyed at this article, and a lot of the comments. Look, obviously the episode wasn’t exactly the norm, but TV doesn’t usually show what’s normal. They show the extremes.
And a lot of people here seem to be acting as if Postpartum Psychosis is particularly picked on. Ever seen “Rain Man”? Or any other movies depicting autistic people? Maybe ones with people with general depression? Or bipolar disorder? Notice you can’t think of any where it wasn’t an extreme case, where it was part of the main storyline?
And then maybe type 1 diabetes? I can not think of one example it is brought up in a story unless a situation occurs later where their life is threatened by not having access to an insulin shot. You people need to grow up and realise this happens everywhere on TV. It will not stop. The ignorant always succeed in their ignorance. So stop complaining about it here. Set up a web page or weekly show that looks at diseases in media, and explains them realistically. ABC shouldn’t be ashamed; they are just giving the people what they want.