Mom's on Anti-depressants

I recently just got a message from a friend saying that she was sorry she hadn't been able to keep up on our communication. She is having a "hard time" and is on anti-depressants. Much like her, I know the problems that lead to being on anti-depressants. More so, it's the stigma that goes with being on them.

I never had postpartum depression until after my 3rd child was born. It's not the normal depression symptoms that hallmarked the diagnoses. Sure I was tired, but doesn't that come from having 3 kids ages 3 and under? What got me was my irritability. I had this mood that just would explode at any time. I knew it was there, I tried to help it, but it seems somebody else was controlling my outbursts. When I finally lashed out at my oldest child for what I even knew was not a good excuse, I went to the doctor. I saw the look in my child's eyes that mom was kind of scary. I didn't want her to look at me that way. 

After visiting the doctor, I've tried 2 different anti-depressants. Of course we looked for other reasons as to what was happening to me, but all my blood work came back normal. Choosing to go on anti-depressants was hard because Joe's family is pretty against prescription anything. Even Joe struggles with depression at times, whether he wants to admit it or not. I've asked him if he would ever take an anti-depressant just to help get him through the tough times so he can continue to function instead of huddling in a room reading a book. He adamantly said no. I wonder why because that's why I got on the pills. I figured somebody was saying, "Look, all you have to do is take this little pill once a day and you have a better shot at being a better mother." Who would refuse that?

According to WEBMD they said, "There's such extensive literature about the potential negative impact of a mother's depression on her children," Hendrick tells WebMD. "They don't do as well in a variety of factors - scores on IQ tests later on. They don't have a secure attachment with their mother. As they grow up, they tend to show more aggressive behavior toward peers."

I understand everybody's not me and doesn't look at their choices in such a light, but don't you want to have a better shot at being a better parent? I don't mind sharing the fact that I'm on anti-depressants. There's nothing wrong with me. There's nothing wrong with my personality. I have a chemical imbalance. www.psychcentral.com stated so nicely, “An important aspect of our advanced monoamine model is that individuals with depression lose chemicals like serotonin and dopamine at different rates based upon transporter density. This helps explain why one person with depression may experience loss of appetite while another may not. And some people have more severe symptoms than others,” said Dr. Meyer."

So to be a better mom, I am on anti-depressants and I would encourage anybody that balancing out hormones to be a better mom, dad, brother, sister, citizen or whatever is worth a shot. I mean, could it be any worse than where you might be right now? If you don't like being a statistic, throw that out the window. You're a statistic no matter which side your on. The question is, do you want to be a part of this next statistic?

According to www.psychcentral.com,
"The next step for researchers will be to investigate why MAO-A levels are raised in the brain and consider prevention strategies. Prevention strategies are critical — according to the World Health Organization, major depression is currently the fourth leading cause of death and disability and is expected to rise to second by the year 2020."

UPDATE:
The supplement I use to help with my depression-- Click that and it will take you to the Solaray Adrenal caps that I use to help aid my depression. I felt amazing one time when the doctor put me on steroids. I got a glimpse of the mom I want to be. So I did some research on a natural way to get that feeling. A lot of the ingredients that I found are in this supplement. Try it, can't hurt!