This phenomenon is triggered by the rapid reduction of estrogen and progesterone levels that occurs in women after they have delivered their children. Postpartum depression doesn't happen in every woman and some are more effected by it than others, but it does happen.
In spite of that well-known expert on the history of psychiatry, Tom Cruise, many women, their husbands, and their friends and family will testify also that certain drugs, usually accompanied by counseling, have been appropriate treatment regimens for counteracting postpartum depression.
In today's New York Times, Brooke Shields, whose experience of postpartum depression and subsequent recovery occasioned actor Cruise's pronouncements on psychiatry, drugs, vitamin, and the alleged glibness of Matt Lauer, talks about her experience and the controversy created by Cruise:
While Mr. Cruise says that Mr. Lauer and I do not "understand the history of psychiatry," I'm going to take a wild guess and say that Mr. Cruise has never suffered from postpartum depression...As a friend who provides alcohol and drug treatment counseling pointed out to me recently, it's probably true that too many drugs are being prescribed by physicians for various psychological and emotional issues without the benefit of consultation with psychotherapists. To the extent that Tom Cruise's rants on this subject alert us to this reality, he's rendered a public servic.
...comments like those made by Tom Cruise are a disservice to mothers everywhere. To suggest that I was wrong to take drugs to deal with my depression, and that instead I should have taken vitamins and exercised shows an utter lack of understanding about postpartum depression and childbirth in general...
...In a strange way, it was comforting to me when my obstetrician told me that my feelings of extreme despair and my suicidal thoughts were directly tied to a biochemical shift in my body. Once we admit that postpartum is a serious medical condition, then the treatment becomes more available and socially acceptable. With a doctor's care, I have since tapered off the medication, but without it, I wouldn't have become the loving parent I am today.
It's probably also true that there is good reason to be critical of some schools of psychiatry for being as prescription-happy as some physicians are surgery-happy.
But Cruise really has no reason to be dismissive of an entire discipline of science, one that has proven helpful to many people.
From a Christian perspective, I have observed in people I have referred to competent counselors, some of whom have been helped by the prescription of medications for problems ranging from depression to chemical imbalances, that the disciplines of psychiatry and psychology are among the good gifts God grants to bring healing and wholeness to people's lives.
I'm glad that Brooke Shields is pointing this out to us.
1 comment:
Mark, my background is in pharmacy and I've practiced on and off for several years while going through seminary and pastoring. I appreciate your balanced and informed views on the use of medications in treating mental and emotional problems. I have seen the full range of approaches - medicate every single fluctuation in a person's emotional state to reject all medications as unnecessary or even wrong. As a pharmacist, I see that some medication regimens are legitimate treatments for people. Some disorders truly have a chemical or biological cause that can be treated very effectively with quality medications. On the other hand, I also agree that some doctors seem to throw medications at anything because it's an easier approach than doing quality diagnostic/analytical work with a patient - just taking the path of least resistance.
Anyway, thanks for your insights. It's great to read a blog that presents a Bible-centered, Christ-focused world view in such an intelligent and approachable manner.
Post a Comment