Lauren Hale at Sharing the Journey has asked those of us who blog about postpartum depression to write today about a mom named Crystal who lost her life to PPD not long after giving birth to her second child.
Lauren explains:
On Wednesday night, I received an email from Joseph Raso. It included a link to a video montage of his daughter, Crystal, set to the Rascal Flatts song, “Why.” Crystal tragically shot herself shortly after giving birth to her second child, Max. No one knew she had been struggling. They simply thought Crystal was being Crystal and worrying just as she always did. No one was let in to help her. Her world turned upside down, inside out, and the only way she saw out was to leave her family behind in the most tragic way possible. Joseph has worked courageously and tirelessly to share Crystal’s story with as many people as he can in order to raise awareness of Postpartum Mood Disorders.
Today is the 2-year anniversary of Crystal's death. Here is Joseph's poignant video:
It's really hard when someone close to the one "infected" with PPD feels they missed something. I know that had I not outright suggested to my husband that I had PPD, he wouldn't have figured it out. Not to his discredit, of course.
There's still a child involved here. You've got to pick up the pieces and keep moving. Alas, it is the doctor and/or pediatrician who should have seen the warnings.
This is truly a heartbreaking story. How sad to leave behind such a beautiful family. I always remind healthcare providers that you can't tell by looking, which is why it's so important to screen for possible depression and then follow up with key questions about sadness, hopelessness, feelings of anxiety and most importantly suicide. As the video states at end, it's important to talk about mood disorders with women that are pregnant and provide them and their families with the tools beforehand, just in case. Although I agree with Pamela above about providers having the responsability of seeing warning signs, im my case, I was so disapointed with my OB-GYN after the birth that I only went back for the postpartum check up and never returned to her or any other doctor for that matter (my child is now 2 and a half). When it comes to the pediatrician, at the beginning he did ask me about my mood, but of course I let him know I was fine and he answered, "I can see everything is fine becuase you're smiling", little did he know how anxious I was feeling. He must think that women with a Perinatal Mood Disorder must "look" a certain way.
In any case, I commend Crystal's father, what a brave man he is to create such a beautiful video and share his story to the world in hopes of saving other lives.
God bless that family. So sad.