When You Call for Help, You Will Find It – In Praise of PANDA – Hello Sydney KidsHello Sydney Kids

A radio interviewer in Darwin once asked me:

‘If you had your time over, would you choose to go through PND again, would you say it’s brought so many positives to your life that you’d do it again.’

‘No,’ I replied immediately.

No thanks, not me. I’d much rather have side swerved my PND and indeed the antenatal depression I now realise I had during my second pregnancy.

Yes, I did learn a lot and, yes, I am much stronger because of it. But no, no, no. I wish I’d never had it. It was dangerous, life threatening.

It’s Post Natal Depression Awareness Week, so my mind has been going back to that very black period in my family’s life.

I’d like to gush with praise for PANDA, the Post and Antenatal Depression Association, and give a special shout out to the volunteers who man its phone lines.

I wish PANDA had been around 10 years ago, but it wasn’t.  The peer support from parents would have been invaluable.

I did reach out and I did call for help:

My sisters Morag and Mairi often talked to me whilst I sobbed and sobbed down the long telephone lines to Scotland

My friend who trained with Lifeline, a handy friend to have

The Tresilian Parent Line, I’d call to ask about my new baby, but would cry and cry down the phone

Lifeline itself, in the middle of the night when I couldn’t sleep a wink

It is good, so very, very good to call for help when you need it.

Ask, ask away, because people do want to help. And they can.

Perinatal anxiety and depression has a very, very high recovery rate. The future is very hopeful once you get the help you need.

The help you deserve.

I’m so proud to have co-written ‘Beyond The Baby Blues.’ It meant so much to me, it helped heal some old wounds.

It put me in touch with some fantastic volunteers and with the management of PANDA.

The motto of PND Awareness week is: PND, it’s not all black and white.  Very, very true. It’s complex, emotive, sometimes hard to understand and accept. But treatable, very treatable. Thank goodness.

So if you are feeling concerned about yourself or a loved one, call PANDA on 1300 726 306. Have a look at their website too: www.panda.org.au.  Make an appointment with your GP whilst you’re at it.

Early intervention and good treatment lead to faster recovery.

So lets all look out for each other and take action sooner not later.