Bundle of Blues
By Serena Down

"How come I couldn't just have a baby and cruise through it like the rest of the world seems to?"

Women who experience postpartum mood disorders may feel that they are all alone, but postpartum depression actually may affect as many as one in five new mothers. Janice first experienced extreme anxiety attacks about three months after her delivery; the first time was after a family party: "Out of nowhere I felt like a freight train came through the house and knocked me down."

Monique didn't share her feelings with her family, and felt that it was unacceptable in the black community to seek therapeutic help. "I was taking everything to the extreme. I thought I was going nuts inside...I was pretty much being held hostage by my obsessive compulsive need to monitor him." Thomas recalls that after a difficult birth and recovery his wife Carol grew distant and seemed uninterested in her baby. But neither he nor the professionals they consulted realized that she had become suicidal - she eventually hung herself.

This quiet, thoughtful documentary stresses that PPD can happen to any new mother, but that it can be managed. Antidepressants have helped keep Janice stable through the births of her second and third children. Monique has found help and support in a therapy group. Thomas, in his wife's memory, has opened a "kid-friendly" restaurant where mothers can meet and spend time with their children.

13 minutes
© 2005
Purchase $175 DVD
Order No. QA-431
ISBN (DVD) 1-57295-815-4

Reviews
"Recommended. A short but instructive portrait of postpartum depression. Should convince anyone that the 'baby blues' can be a devastating medical problem requiring serious intervention." Video Librarian

Awards & Conference Screenings
Association for Women in Psychology Film Festival
Western Psychological Association
Silver Award, National Health Information Awards

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Post Partum Depression: It's not just the "baby blues." This video is about the perhaps 2% of new mothers who experience the severe depression, delusions, paranoia and other symptoms of postpartum psychosis.

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To rent or purchase this film, please visit the Icarus Films website

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