PPD therapy experiences?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just had my first PPD therapy session and I was very underwhelmed.

Others who have gone through this, what was therapy like? What did you talk about? What was the therapist’s approach? Did you find it helpful? How long did it take for you to see improvement? Did you also do meds? If so, which did you think was more impactful?

I’m struggling every day and being told to eat better and journal just feels... both unhelpful and unlikely. I haven’t even showered in three days. Trying to figure out if I need someone new or I should just give it some time and a shot.

One of the most helpful things to me was the whole story about running the dishwasher twice. Basically a women experiencing depression told her therapist she got overwhelmed by all the dishes in the sink with stuck on food and that it was too much to wash them and then load. The therapist replied run the dishwasher twice or even three times. If the dishwasher sucks or it doesnt work after 1x then try twice. The goal is to accomplish one thing a day no matter what "rules" are broken. Dont want to shower because its too much - lay in the shower or sit. Eating better- have a friend deliver whole foods and pick out some foods. Literally take the therapist time and order groceries together. Say I need help accomplishing the food part before I can do the eat part. Get frozen entrees x100 and some fruit. Eat PBJ uncrustables with some cut up vegetable tray items for the week.

You are clawing yourself out. There is no ladder with really nice sturdy steps. There are hands reaching for you but I know how scary that can feel because 1)you might drag them down with you 2) you are so heavy that they may pull away 3) you dont even have the desire/energy to form thoughts on what you need.

I need you to determine one thing you are going to do every day this week. What do you remember that made you feel whole- A shower? Being outside? Listening to music in the car? Eating breakfast/having coffee in quiet with fresh flowers? Those memories are there and when you find one thing do it every day this week. That is your only must. And if you complete it say to yourself I am proud of you. And if the day goes by and its 10pm at night and you just want to sleep- tell your partner I need to do this. Crawl if you must.

The brain builds on repetition. Sometimes we need medicine to help our brains light up the pathways, right now its dark. But even if the pathways are lit you still have to take the steps. Im PROUD of you for recognizing where you are. You want to feel better. It wont be easy or linear but there is a part inside of you fighting and thats your momentum out.

Wow. OP here. This post is SO helpful! I got more out of this than my first 50 mins with a therapist, and there’s a lot here that’s actually helpful right now.

Like a different PP, I have some past experiences with SSRIs that lead me to want to avoid meds if possible. But for that to be feasible, I need to make some progress on a reasonably short timeline, and I’m concerned my therapist isn’t going to get me there. I don’t have three weeks to say “well, that wasn’t helpful, let me try someone else” rinse and repeat - I’m drowning NOW. So this I think is the push I needed to find someone else.

Was your therapist in the DC area? Would you mind sharing his/her name?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a therapist I understand the limits of therapy. CBT can't stop the oxytocin crash. Would you tell a man with a broken arm not to take pain meds? This is just misogyny, the expectation that a women should be able to "think" her way out of a massive physical shift taking place in her brain.

No, what is mysogynistic is expecting a woman to just take a pill and get on with things. You have very black and white thinking for a supposed therapist. No one said therapy alone is adequate for PPD. Medication combined with therapy is extremely effective. That is the point being made, and what you seem unable to grasp.

+1

OP never said either way if she was medicated. She just asked about therapy experiences, so saying “take a pill” in this situation is especially unhelpful— just answer the question asked!

I get very annoyed when people say “you just need to medicate” for any mental health issue. No because I’m anti-medication. I’ve taken medication and think it can be a great tool. But it can also be a stab in the dark. I had a horrible response to my first SSRI, and moving off it (even the very low dose they started me on) was even worse. One reason the standard is medication plus therapy is that medication can be a challenge in itself snd it’s good to have someone to go through it with. There is no silver bullet and people who are struggling deserve compassion about that fact.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You need medication. PPD is a physical hormonal imbalance. You can't fix that with talk therapy.

-therapist

Any decent therapist would know that medication isn’t just going to fix things. It is most effective when paired with talk therapy.

Of course, but you can't fix a hormonal imbalance with talk therapy. This is a physical issue, not a psychological one.

I really hope you are not the PP therapist. If you are, you should know that while a hormonal/neurotransmitter imbalance can be one of the contributing factors for PPD/PPA, another contributing factor can be the immense life change that becoming a mother is. It's not necessarily a clear cut issue. Medication is only going to help so much if you're aren't addressing underlying issues.

I had postpartum psychosis due to lack of sleep and a hormone imbalance. I was hospitalized and immediately improved upon starting Zoloft. Do you think talking about how I don't have any me time anymore would have helped?

Once you were no longer in crisis, I would certainly hope that therapy was also offered to you (in combination with medication) so you would have had the opportunity to address the major life change that becoming a mother is. I’m sorry if you were only given medication and sent on your way if you feel like you did need to address the fact that becoming a mother results in a drastically different lifestyle.