Reflection on Depression

UNC's Center for Women's Mood Disorders and Kendra Wilkinson 2 Years Post-PPD

I'm getting back into the groove after being back on the East Coast for a few days, so I'll just point out two awesome news stories: 

The first is the creation of UNC's Center for Women's Mood Disorders (bonus -- UNC is my college alma mater).  It includes the first freestanding inpatient perinatal psychiatry unit in the country.  The unit is specially designed for new mothers, with things like rocking chairs, breast pumps, and extended visiting hours so that moms and babies can maintain a close bond even while a mother is hospitalized.

On a related note, I also read that Kendra Wilkinson is doing well two years after her bout with postpartum depression and is raising awareness for other women struck by the disorder.  See here for an article about her recovery. 

Sick but so skinny!

This article made me laugh -- the author lost weight during a flare up of lupus and ended up getting a lot of compliments from envious friends.

She says:

"I was a walking skeleton and eventually wound up in a wheelchair . . . [b]ut the crazy thing was people thought I looked great because I was so thin. They'd ask if I was working out and I didn't have one muscle. You could see every bone protruding out of my shoulders, my elbows, my wrists."

"[P]eople suffering from broken jaws, gastrointestinal woes — even cancer — have all had friends and strangers alike brush off their suffering in order to rejoice in their 'fabulous' weight loss," the article adds.

I remember feeling uneasy about getting compliments for my weight loss when depressed. Not only did it feel like the person who complimented me missed what was important (I was in an awful state that involved a combination of appetite loss, weakness, immobility, and vomiting), but the "compliment" drew attention to the noticeable (and now undeniable) impact of the illness on my life.

The depression diet was not worth it. As much as I liked fitting into a size 0-2 instead of a size 4-6, I resented the weight loss for distracting people from the underlying problem. I sure wouldn't voluntarily go through that much pain just to fit into my skinny jeans.