Cognosco

So, on Thursday night a new episode of "Scrubs" aired. I have fallen in love with that show over the last two years since episodes started coming out on DVD. I feel that it is currently the funniest show on television. That being said, in this episode, they addressed post-partum depression, and did so in a serious and ethical way. One of the main characters, Carla (who is a nurse), just had a baby. Her husband, Turk, is a surgeon. The episode begins with a shot of her sitting in rocking chair with the baby in her arms, crying. She says, "I can’t do this–we have to take her back". It was heartbreaking. These two are people well-steeped in medical knowledge and familiarity with the disorder. But the bottom line is, he doesn’t know what to do and she thinks getting help means admitting she is a failure. He is at least wise enough to mention the problem to someone else, whose significant other had suffered from PPD as well. Jordon comes to talk to Carla about the way she is feeling, and when she admits that she has wanted to throw the baby out of the window, we can say yes, this is progress . Jordon points out that the problem won’t fix itself through sheer will and that she needs to get help, and the exact quote includes a dig at Tom Cruise (and Scientology) that I can’t remember right now…

The beautiful thing about this portrayal is that the last several episodes of the season have centered around how much she wants a baby. And she is a character who normally totally has her shit together. And these are both people who are well-educated about the disorder. And still, she gets whammed by it, demonstrating that it can happen to anyone and it has nothing to do with how much you want your baby. Although there are certainly recognized risk factors for PPD, it is still difficult to predict who will get nailed by it. I found it particularly interesting that she had to have an emergency c-section, and c-sections are associated with higher risk of PPD. She is also the take-care-of-business independent type, and I think it is always hardest for this type of woman to ask for help.

The episode also includes a scene about her absolute frustration with breastfeeding and how she feels like a failure because she can’t even feed her baby. She then meets with lactation consultants, and although the scene is more funny than informative, it at least points out that a) breastfeeding can be hard and b) there are these special people who may be able to help you.

One of the things I have already noticed about receiving care from a midwife is that she asks me how I’m feeling, and when she asks, it’s clear that she doesn’t mean just physically. I never got that sense from the doctor, although I’m sure that the question could have been directed at physical and emotional well-being. Also, the doctors never asked about any mental health history of myself or my family, and although these tidbits don’t exactly predict PPD, it at least opens a door to discuss such things. When I hear about mothers who do crazy, horrible things to their infants, because they were convinced it was "possessed", it breaks my heart. Especially because it’s almost always a poor mother who probably does not have much help, let alone resources to find help. And people’s reactions to these stories are so harsh and assume the mother is just a horrible person. A horrible person may beat or ignore their kid. A person who microwaves the baby because the voices told her to is a completely different category.