[caption id="attachment_3601" align="alignleft" width="246"] My dear friend, Jody.[/caption] Help a Wonderful Family As I shared in my recent post, "Self-Care & Letting Help In--The 2 Most Important Things," I lost my dear friend, Jody, last week, as a result of mental illness. She left behind her husband...
I don’t usually post this often--3 times in one week--and I don’t usually hit the keyboard furiously the second I finally get all my kids out the door. But today, I can’t help it. My heart is racing, my head is pounding, and I feel like, if...
Are you a perfectionist? Not sure? Well, do you… Set unrealistically high goals/standards for yourself and/or others? Judge yourself based on what you do/don’t accomplish? Have a hard time stopping a project until it’s exactly how you want it? Have trouble relaxing in even a small mess at home? Feel...
In Part 1, we explained the symptoms of Pregnancy/Postpartum Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (PPOCD) and what makes this disorder the most misunderstood of all the Perinatal Mood/Anxiety Disorders. (If you have not yet read Part 1, I suggest doing so before moving on.) In Part 2 we discuss...
Beyond Postpartum Depression (PPD) Postpartum Depression (PPD) is the most commonly talked about and treated form of Perinatal Mood/Anxiety Disorder (PMAD). It affects as many as one in five new mothers (up to 20%), and can have a significant impact on the father, the infant, and...
Some time back in graduate school I realized that if I don’t ask for help when I need it, it might never come. Like so many women, I’d spent the first several years of my marriage expecting my husband, OJ (no, not Simpson), to just...
I remember when the earthquake hit Haiti in January 2010. A postpartum mom still in the midst of my own life’s traumas, I got my kids off to school, then spent the day nursing my baby, watching the news, and crying. I spent the next...
Thanks to my good friend, Julie Hanks, LCSW, I've been able to do a couple of guest posts for her Private Practice Toolbox series on www.PsychCentral.com. The first was my article, "Sharing Office Space With Your Spouse". This was followed up by a Video Tour...