Post by Bobyn on Mar 3, 2008 11:30:23 GMT
I don't know if anyone else read this yesterday but I felt moved to email her personally as her views enraged me! If anyone else read it and felt the same please do email her as well at india.knight@sunday-time.co.uk. This is a copy of the email I wrote to her:
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Dear India,
I feel compelled to write to you after reading your article in the Sunday Times yesterday entitled 'Buck up, you Prozac people'. I am currently suffering from PNI after the birth of my 6 month old and wanted to share with you my experiences of using anti-depressants and their benefits. After my first child I suffered from PNI and took anti-depressants for only a few months as I started to feel better and also felt some degree of shame in taking a tablet. I felt that I should be able to cope with motherhood without the medical support and that every Mum suffers overwhelming feeling as you say in your article. Unfortunately for my family the feelings I had did not dissipate even though I was having counselling both alone and with my partner through Relate. This meant that my marriage suffered (we even separated for 6 months) and my relationship with my eldest daughter, now 4, was also put under strain. At times I felt worthless and suicidal and the only thing that kept me going was the thought of how my daughter would feel without me. It brings tears to my eyes now thinking about the lack of love and compassion she received as a young child because I felt pressure from the media portrayal of mental illness not to be on anti-depressants.
Despite this experience I felt brave enough to have another child 6 months ago with my husband and the PNI returned. Once again I went onto anti-depressants and once again I felt that I should try to do this on my own. As I started to decrease the dosage the suicidal symptoms returned and this time I actually ran away from home with the express intention of ending my life, believing my children would be better off without me. Luckily for me I have an extremely supportive husband and a friend recommended the website www.pni.org.uk and their forum. The wonderful ladies on that site taught me that seeking help for mental illness does not make you weak and that PNI is not an inability to cope with the demands of motherhood, it is a serious illness. I returned to the doctor and increased me dosage of anti-depressants and I am going to continue to take them until the time when I feel ready to stop.
Whilst I appreciate that there may be some people out there for whom anti-depressants are prescribed easily and for whom they do not work effectively, there are also a number of us and our families who owe our lives and happiness to these drugs. Perhaps it would be possible for you in future to consider an article about the devasting effects this illness has on sufferers and their families? This might act to raise awareness of this illness and create some compassion for those who suffer and fight to love and care for their children on a daily basis.
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Dear India,
I feel compelled to write to you after reading your article in the Sunday Times yesterday entitled 'Buck up, you Prozac people'. I am currently suffering from PNI after the birth of my 6 month old and wanted to share with you my experiences of using anti-depressants and their benefits. After my first child I suffered from PNI and took anti-depressants for only a few months as I started to feel better and also felt some degree of shame in taking a tablet. I felt that I should be able to cope with motherhood without the medical support and that every Mum suffers overwhelming feeling as you say in your article. Unfortunately for my family the feelings I had did not dissipate even though I was having counselling both alone and with my partner through Relate. This meant that my marriage suffered (we even separated for 6 months) and my relationship with my eldest daughter, now 4, was also put under strain. At times I felt worthless and suicidal and the only thing that kept me going was the thought of how my daughter would feel without me. It brings tears to my eyes now thinking about the lack of love and compassion she received as a young child because I felt pressure from the media portrayal of mental illness not to be on anti-depressants.
Despite this experience I felt brave enough to have another child 6 months ago with my husband and the PNI returned. Once again I went onto anti-depressants and once again I felt that I should try to do this on my own. As I started to decrease the dosage the suicidal symptoms returned and this time I actually ran away from home with the express intention of ending my life, believing my children would be better off without me. Luckily for me I have an extremely supportive husband and a friend recommended the website www.pni.org.uk and their forum. The wonderful ladies on that site taught me that seeking help for mental illness does not make you weak and that PNI is not an inability to cope with the demands of motherhood, it is a serious illness. I returned to the doctor and increased me dosage of anti-depressants and I am going to continue to take them until the time when I feel ready to stop.
Whilst I appreciate that there may be some people out there for whom anti-depressants are prescribed easily and for whom they do not work effectively, there are also a number of us and our families who owe our lives and happiness to these drugs. Perhaps it would be possible for you in future to consider an article about the devasting effects this illness has on sufferers and their families? This might act to raise awareness of this illness and create some compassion for those who suffer and fight to love and care for their children on a daily basis.
