dban asked this question on 5/9/2000:
Does anyone know of any support groups for post-partum depression in the Madison, WI area? Any other support groups for parenting would also be helpful. I am a mother of two that is suffering from post-partum depression for the second time. I have a 10-week old daughter and a 3-year old son. This time around, the depression is 100% worse and I'm scaring myself and others as to how horrible I feel and what I might do or at least think about doing. Medication is just not enough. Any advice would be extremely grateful.
siobhan gave this response on 5/9/2000:
I know what you're going through, I too had post partum depression which ultimately resulted in me giving custody to her dad and the ministry of children and families taking her away from him, so I sincerely hope you get the help you need so that you don't have to go through what I went through. You can get lots of great support from the Pacific Post Partum Society, and there are other agencies too, even for those who are specificall y dealing with learning how to move on with their lives after post partum depression, but I don't know the name off-hand, but you can look up post partum depression or just depression on the internet and find the phone numbers and addresses of these agencies. They will give you phone support, reading material, referrals, info., hook you up with support groups, anything, there's a hotline too i believe. They were very nice to me, and all the workers there have experienced ppd just like you, so they know what it's all about and you don't have to be ashamed of anything youre experiencing or feeling. You definitely have to seek medical help as in counselling, if youre not already doing so. Get as much help with the kids as you can right now so you can relieve yourself of stress once and a while and try to do other things that you enjoy. I sincerely hope you find the help you need, Iknow it's hard and there's not a lot out there as for support groups. Write me anytime you need to talk, and my email address is siobhangmccarron@hotmail.com. Take Care and God bless you and yours. Siobhan