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Supposed PPD??? How the hell do you know? For your information I was a woman who suffered from severe PPD after my first child. It was not due to not being able to handle anything. I simply did everything for my child but was severely depressed myself. I walked around like a zombie for months not knowing what was wrong. I had a happy well behaved good baby who slept through the night and a loving husband to support me. My depression was for no known cause except PPD. I could barely get out of bed, felt like the world was coming to an end and most of all hopeless. I wasn't bored with my life or looking for a happy pill. I had serious depression. My son is now 4 years old and an aggressive normal little boy as I believe all kids his age are and I certainly would never put my him on medication for ADHD or any other of the overdiagnosed child illness. I have recovered and can handle my over active 4 year old and take insult to your comment. I am a great mom and even waited months before getting help because I didn't want to be judged by people like you! I think those of you who are on this site to judge people should stay off of this forum because some people with real problems may be coming here for support.

People with real problems should be going to their doctors, not consulting a website. And I'm glad that you think an aggressive, over-active four year old is normal and doesn't need to be on meds for ADHD. However, I hope he's never in one of my kid's play groups.

My son is a completely normal active child. NOT OVER ACTIVE. Perhaps your kids are the ones with the problems. I have never come on this website to consult with anyone regarding my illness. I simply came on here to help others because I know what it is like to have PPD. I think people like you are nasty and it is obvious you have your own problems because you simply do not want to help others. You obviously can't see other points of view besides your own.

You are nothing but know it all b___h! Your kids must sit still all day with their heads in books. What do you know about PPD or ADHD. To say that a child has ADHD or to even suggest it is sick. You are now judging other people's children. I feel sorry for your family.

I believe that the other Lisa was the one who described her own son as OVER active and aggressive. Typical of this generation of permissive parents. I thank god I'm not a teacher. And I must have missed something ~ there's something wrong with a kid with their head in a book ? Better than watching mindless tv or running around out of control.

Take it easy on Lisa ~ the one who thinks that PPD is a bit overb__wn. She's not the only one. Doctors nowadays are way to quick to write a scrip instead of letting their patients try to work through things.

When you leave the hospital they tell you that you may get weepy and if it lasts longer than 2 weeks to contact your doctor it may be something more serious. If it were not serious than I don't think they would mention it at all. They specifically tell you that it could be PPD if you don't start feeling better. Yes PPD is probably overdiagnosed and some women probably do take a pill to get rid of some of their daily stress of raising children. I think alot of women do suffer from PPD and they should be taken seriously if that is the case. It seems like many mental illnesses are overdiagnosed once the media gets a hold of the information especially childhood illnesses when some parents should just take better care of their children. When you read in magazines and see it all over television you may start to believe you or your family member have an illnes. I also believe however that there are people out there who suffer from such mental illnesses and if they do they shouldn't be judged or condemned for wanting to get help. I can't imagine just wanting to pay for and take medication just for the heck of it and I can't imagine giving medication to a child who didn't truly need it. I think alot of you may not really know how some of these women feel. Unless you live their day to day lives and are inside their heads how do any of you know what PPD is?

I agree that a small percentage of women really ARE suffering from mental problems and need medication. The reason doctors mention this to every women leaving the hospital nowadays is because they're afraid of being sued so they would rather err on the side of caution. Bottom line, anyone suffering from real PPD or depression needs to be at their doctor's office not online looking for information/sympathy, etc.

Lisa I don't think women online are looking for sympathy maybe they are wondering if some women are feeling the way they are? I think maybe you should cut some of these women some slack. Maybe your life is perfect but not everyone can be as lucky.

No my life isn't perfect, but I don't look to strangers to 'fix' it or give me advice. This site isn't a support group as much as a whine session and it really annoys me when people ask for medical advice online.

Can I ask what you are doing on this site? This entire site is related to pregnancy and childbirth and in a nutshell has everything to do with your body and some women do come on here for support for PPD, miscarriage, etc. I see nothing wrong with that. I don't think anyone is looking for medical advice but women want to know if other women are experiencing what they are? Sometimes you can't get all the answers from doctors.

Lisa, I think your being cold and insensitive. I don't know if you realize it. There are people who really suffer from depression which can be triggered for no reason and from feeling stressed out. People have varying degrees of coping mechanisms and I feel for those who get really stressed. In the past it was men who made enough money to support the family and women stayed home to be full-time moms. However, there were MANY women who suffered from depression. The media (supported by men) would advertise so many products to women to make their life happy, fun and easy at home(vacuum, washing machine etc.., how to beautify themselves to attract men and find a career in getting married and staying at home etc.. School and job was not encouraged for women. If you did go to school it was to find a male who had a good educational future and marry him and then quit school. These women though were not happy. To find happiness, soap operas were created(written by men) and they would provide fantasy, romance as a solution for them to be happy. Freud even found the same answer to the problem with women suffering from depression at home. The answer from a male point of view such as Freud is that they lack s_x and romance. For example, in the 1950 and 1960's a lot of s_x topics were sold to women featuring "Making Marriage Work" "Can This Marriage be Saved" "Tell Me Doctor". Even movies and theatre had preoccupation of female s_x seekers to find happiness(pg 263). The unders_xed creatures seeking s_x to feel alive. Even to cheat (soap opera), she is willing to cheat to feel fulfilled, willing to risk her home and happiness, just to be with a stranger. Have more babies to feel fulfilled they were advised. This view created a lot of problems that could not be solved by medicine or psychotherapy. Women had problems with their ident_ty to feel complete without s_x. It was urged for educators, parents, ministers, magazine edioors, guidance counselors to stop the cultural belief of early marriage movement as there were a lot of early teen pregancies, and of a too close mother child symbiosis of control and smuthering children affecting their psychological well-being. Well, the male cultural belief to try to keep women at home didn't seem to work and more and more women talked about it but could not understand why they were so unhappy. It was a problem that had no name for centuries. Even from a medical point of view it was not understood since motherhood and domestic work has always been seen as something as natural for us, our destiny-our incapbability of rational thinking to even be in the male world. But these beliefs started to slow down begin to change slowly during WWII when women showed that they are capable of working while men went to war. They were happy when they were working and daycares were invented to help women work. But now many women have more work to cope with because they not only work for pay but when they get home they still do more domestic work then men. They feel excausted. They feel guilt and worry while working because they think its their responsiblity as the mother to stay home and take care of the kids. Many women and even the rich can feel depressed. Childrearing and juggling domestic work, being stuck at home all the time can bring on depression from a loss of a sense of ident_ty, feeling trapped, feeling empty. We now know you can cope with or without drugs but to a certain extent without drugs. Its good to have support systems, friends, husband, family and even the internet site like this one. I too honestly thought that staying home would be wonderful even being fiancially off, I'm well educated with a degree in psychology and a diploma in Early Childhood Education, I also have a full-time job but I'm on maternity leave. I am very knowledgable about childcaring and I love to bake and cook and I do an excellent job in cleaning my house. But after a while you really do get this sad feeling and its not that you hate what your doing or its hard but it still happens. I also think that we do need a break from it sometimes and if family or a friend can give a helping hand it can do wonders to feeling happy. It would be nice if my husband would help out more afte his work. But her figures I do a better job at it. I don't think my problem requires medicine nor do I think I'm being selfish. I think any human being whether male or female staying home all day, can get depressed. I think its normal to feel this way. I know that there are people with worse problems but that doesn't mean that I should close my mouth and say nothing and just go on with my motherly and wife duties. This is inhumane. If anyone would like to know more about women suffering from depression in the past, look for the book called The Feminine Mystique written by Betty Friedan. Because of her book written in 1962, she finally brought light or insight to women's depressed problem that had no name and it caused the second wave of the feminist movement.

So which is it, either this is a real problem or not? Now you are saying " A small percentage need medication" Your "friend" may or not be amoung them but but who are you to decide. You certainly can't decide who amooung these women may in that small percentage either. I think you need to get a grip, hell if you were my "friend" I think I might need meds to even put up with you.

D, Thanks for your response you made many good points. I am wondering when Lisa got her medical degree?

I don't know who responded after me or if your refering to me thinking I'm Lisa. I'm not Lisa. I just came from another forum who told me how rude some peope can be on this PPD. If you are refering to my comments. Yes I do believe women can become depressed. I believe that women can cope eventually in different ways and others may not for a long time. I know someone who had PPD and even after having family support, medical support it wouldn't work and it just went away on its own while her sister was rubbing her feet. I don't know how to explain that. I guess medicine is not always the answer. Nevertheless, depression either from brain imbalance/ overly worked or just staying home all day like me can happen. My uncle died from depression and no medicine can cure him after trying to commit suicide several times and finally succeeding. I'm not deciding that medicine can work for depression in general. I'm not a doctor. But you can't deny if medicine has helped some people with depression depending on their situation. Everyone is different

Maybe some of you should join Tom Cruise in his crusade against psychology!