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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to think that the concept of post natal depression is overused?

238 replies

moondog · 21/02/2010 22:24

HOW COME WOMEN HAVE TO HAVE A LABEL (sorry) for so many things?

PMS
AND
PND
Menopausal
OCD
Passive/Aggressive

It seems that the concept of being low/cross/nasty/bitchy/tired/worn out is positively old fashined.

OP posts:
MadameDefarge · 21/02/2010 23:16

Well, its not perfect, a response TFM, but its got to be better than giving someone a pep talk and sending them on their way...

The system aint perfect. But by God, its a damn sight better than it was 20 years ago....

cory · 21/02/2010 23:18

I am actually having counselling for stress atm, after some rather difficult years (paid for by my employer). What I find it does for me is I am then able not to go home and take my stress out on the children. My mother was brave and refused to be labelled and never wasted any NHS resources. It's just that I spent a lot of my childhood propping her up. And my dd hasn't had to do that with me. I think it's better this way.

JaneS · 21/02/2010 23:19

moondog, how am I off the point? You object to the fact that a related 'label' has become a descriptor for several similar 'conditions', some or all of which you believe to be fictional. I have pointed out that ignorant people once thought conditions like osteoarthritis were likewise fictional, and likewise, related to other 'fictional' problems.

I completely understand if you want to challenge my premise, but my suspicion is that you simply didn't understand it.

ToccataAndFudge · 21/02/2010 23:19

TFM - true they're not

but they did the "tick box" thing with XH this time last year at the GP's and sent him packing (not even with AD's) telling him he was going through a hard time and he'd was fine.

Problem was he wasn't "fine" and continued to progressively get worse.

I was "fine" (apparently) 3 weeks before I took an OD.

IMO the "risk" of saying to someone who has taken the (often huge) step of going to the GP because they're struggling with life "oh go and suck it up" (or words to that effect) (and them becoming more ill) is much higher than the risk of giving some people AD's that don't need them.

Incidently after "crisis point" (as I now like to refer to it) for me last September I went to the GP's (for something different) - but did mention while I was there that was I was starting to struggle again (still at that point in shock about what had happened to me/XH and terrified of ending up where I did 2yrs ago) and was brushed off.

Thankfully on this occasion I have coped ok(ish) with it- finding I'm having more wobbles and flashbacks in recent weeks - but that's another thread - but given my "history" and what had happened the risk was huge.

MadameDefarge · 21/02/2010 23:23

Yes, I think this idea of GP's dispensing ADs like smarties is another DM myth.

And before someone rushes off and gets the official stats on GP AD prescriptions , yes, there has been a huge rise in it, but maybe it was needed? And thank god we have them.
Generations are crippled by undiagnosed depression. Nip it in the bud if you can, I say.

MadameDefarge · 21/02/2010 23:26

Toccata, your GP sounds a twat. Have you thought about asking for a pyschiatric consult referral?

Ruby Wax did an interesting interview the other day about her pyschiatrist, and how her meds needed to be changed over time, and how unfair it was to ask GPs to be experts in that pharmeceutical field.

ToccataAndFudge · 21/02/2010 23:26

oh I should add they did give me AD's 2yrs ago - but didn't tell me they could take 6 weeks to kick in and just said "come back in a month".

ToccataAndFudge · 21/02/2010 23:28

actuall this thread is too much for me - am going to hide it

T&C (ALFA/FAQ/QOQ) signing out

differentID · 21/02/2010 23:28

Depression if all types are being better diagnosed as the stigmas of the past are becoming less so.

50 years ago it was still possible to be lobotomised because you had a mental illness. I think we have come so far since then and prescription drugs are a much better way of dealing with mental health issues than cutting part of the brain out, don't you?

Moondog, next you'll be suggesting that ASD are over diagnosed or that ADHD isn't a real condition. That's what you are implying with your OP about the conditions you stated.

TheFallenMadonna · 21/02/2010 23:31

My question is whether it is an effective and useful treatment on its own MadameDefarge. Whether it does indeed 'nip it inthe bud' or whether people are just struggling on with a diagnosis of, and prescription for, depression, rather than struggling on without. Without wanting to go into somebody else's details, someone in my family is going through this. Long term depression. Long term AD use. No other therapy or support.

expatinscotland · 21/02/2010 23:31

There has been a major increase in diagnoses of Autism Spectral Disorder, too.

Maybe some of those are just badly behaved/naughty/have parents who don't discipline them enough.

bonkerz · 21/02/2010 23:35

unfortunately it was views like the OP that stopped me getting the help i desparately needed and made me reach the point where i was very very close to drowning my baby girl in the bath when she was just a few weeks old.
My mum died when i was 24 weeks pregnant and because of my baby i felt i could not grieve. When DD was born i was convinced all the pain i felt would instantly melt away but it didnt, my dd reminded me of what my mum was missing and for weeks i functioned....i fed, i cleaned, i acted like a devoted mummy until one day i snapped. Thankkfully DH was there to catch me when i fell and i admitted i needed help BUT the prejedice that goes with admitting you feel that way stopped me from getting the help i needed. Eventually after 3 months of pills and counselling i was able to bond with my little girl who is my world now but it could have been so different.
I have been depressed but this PND was a whole other world to depression. It took me to depths i dont ever want to return to ever again.

claig · 21/02/2010 23:38

An interesting youtube video of Dr. Peter Breggin discussing the topics that tiredlady brought up
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qh0iOd3KEAY

IciCeSoir · 21/02/2010 23:38

HOW COME WOMEN HAVE TO HAVE A LABEL (sorry) for so many things?

Erm..maybe because we can now have a label for them, Becuase before they never had a 'label. And women suffered because it...

Instead of being labelled 'hormonal' and so on. These are conditions which are real. Which I believe you arenn't arguining the point Moondog.

But still. Pretty crass. Devaluing others situations.

Although not unusual for you, atacking others in this way.

MadameDefarge · 21/02/2010 23:40

TFM, in theraputic terms, ADs, or whatever is prescribed, should deal with the physioligical symptoms, enabling the person affected to begin to function effectively again. In a broader sense, I think talking therapies of whatever order, are also in order to deal with whatever psychological basis exists...

Sadly one is often neglected due to budgetary constraints and ignorance on the part of the GP...but both should come into play to provide effective therapy.

TheFallenMadonna · 21/02/2010 23:44

I wonder if the there is such a clear-cut physiological/psychological distinction. I'm not convinced of that.

spookycharlotte121 · 21/02/2010 23:45

What a load of bollucks.... op have you ever actually suffered from any form of depression because I can tell you its no fun what so ever.

I have been through some horrendous things in my life. My dad died when I was young. I was bullied at school because I had dsylexia and lagged behind. My mum had lukimia and I was in foster care, I have been assulted and in an abbusive relationship but I managed, i coped because I wanted things to get better. I could see a light at the end of the tunnel. having gone through all that crap I had low times but nothing like what I have experianced with PND
when I had my dd I got PND..... it changed my life completly and made me feel powerless, out of control and so lonely that I waanted to die.
I was put on AD's but I personally didnt like the effects of them, they made my head feel funny and I felt like a zombie and felt that counciling and talking about the feelings I get that build up inside of me would be a better way of dealing with it.
My life is a constant battle to ensure my children are happy and uneffected by my state of mind.

Its no joke or over exagerated thing.... its bloody serious and I hope you never have to experiance it because its horrendous.

MillyR · 21/02/2010 23:49

There can't be a clear distinction, because someone's psychological state will influence their brain chemistry, and someone's brain chemistry will influence their psychological state.

A lot of the issues raised earlier about people becoming depressed due to their toxic lives are not going to be resolved through either drugs or therapy. Lots of people in the UK have truly awful lives and a lot more than therapy is needed to change that.

OprahWinfrey · 21/02/2010 23:52

PND is not a CONCEPT. Neither is PMS. They are brought on by changes in female hormones.

Moondog. Please open your mind. It was exactly this attitude that led to a close relative of mine hanging herself while her 2 yr old dd played in the next room . Some people still think she was 'mad'. It is not a concept or any form of abstract idea. And unless you 'label' (diagnose?) it correctly, you won't be able to find the correct solution.

Mumcentreplus · 21/02/2010 23:57

I'm really NOT feeling this opinion OP..no one labels themselves for fun or by chance..I want to say more but feel really pissed off right now if I'm honest so perhaps I will keep my thoughts to myself...

Valpollicella · 21/02/2010 23:59

Spooky..so sorry to hear of your experiences

Hey Moondog. Wanna come and make out my experiences were over usued..and I had to put a label to it?

The months of crying; not being able to do anything; feeling like I had made the biggest mistke in the workd by having my dc...not wanting to go to the docs for help because I was too scared it would go 'on record' and SS would be involved..

When in fact all I needed was a bit of help...

So. Moondog. While you think you're doing MN a favour with your straight talking...welll....you could be doing it a dissevice. We're not all super women like you. So if we want or indeed need to assign a name to a medically recognised condition...then we will...

Valpollicella · 22/02/2010 00:06

'The issue of pathologising states which are part and parcel of human condition.'

Refering to your post MD = are you denying PND?

Or AND?

MadameDefarge · 22/02/2010 00:09

yes V, pathologising human conditions...

can't see Moondog not taking painkillers with toothache....

Valpollicella · 22/02/2010 00:12

No, of course she would. Toothache is a medically recognised situation which would require medication.

Not something as woolly as AND/PND etc....

ScreaminEagle · 22/02/2010 00:43

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn