MovieChat Forums > Teen Mom (2009) Discussion > 'Postpartum depression can be treated.'

'Postpartum depression can be treated.'

posted 8 years ago by BlackDog123
4 replies | jump to latest

Full disclosure, I think Dr. Drew has become a caricature of himself. The accolades and celebrity have gone to his head, and if he wanted to do "therapy," he should have become board certified as a psychiatrist.

Anyways, during C and T's couch time, he's pestering them about having more children. C says she's "one and done," because she's had terrible post partum depression twice. I mean, we've WATCHED her struggle. And his response? "Well, it can be treated." Thanks, dick! C is making maybe the best decision of her life, something to be applauded (and I'm no hugefan of their life decisions), and THAT'S what he has to say??

Basically, this is the same thing Rusty Yates was saying to Andrea, who had terrible poatpartum psychosis (a step above PPD in severity) to excuse knocking her up REPEATEDLY until tragedy struck. Of course, I do not mean to imply C will lose it and hurt her children, but PPD and PPP are very real, very serious conditions. You cannot take the most effective psych meds while pregnant and/or breastfeeding, so things are extremely complicated. His flippant comment is callous and unethical!

I am in my thirties and made the painful decision NOT to have children, because I have bipolar disorder and my depressions are crushing (you want to see "lazy?" I can barely get out of bed, let alone shower daily or leave the house for weeks at a time). The meds i take to keep me healthy have devastating effects on fetal development, so I would have to go off them and hope for the best. Depressed mothers cannot adequately bond with their children, setting them up for a lifetime of attachment issues. I wonder if our illustrious Dr. Drew would sit in judgment and tell me to go for it anyways. He should be supportive of C, not nag and lecture her. Ugh, I despise him.

[–] mrs-jindrak 8 years ago

I also have bipolar disorder and came to the same decision. Dr. Drew is an idiot, and I really found his flippant demeanor about Cate's extreme depression to be pretty offensive.
Treating any kind of depression is extremely difficult. All anti-d's and mood stabilizers have side effects, most of which include severe fatigue. Treating depression is a huge undertaking, not just "oh I take these pills and now it's all gone." I can't believe a medical doctor could be so ignorant, to advise this woman to gamble her very fragile mental health.

[–] thn96 8 years ago

I applaud your responsible decision. I am a mother of three wonderful children, and I think your reasoning is sound and very unselfish. So many women have children without considering if they are capable of caring for them properly, case in point-16 and pregnant.

[–] jtrafalgar 8 years ago

Thoughtless comments are kind of becoming Dr Drew's trademark. I wonder if in this instance he was more speaking to the average viewer than Catelynn. Making it a bit of a teaching moment for younger viewers who don't know a thing about PPD. Bipolar runs in my friend's family and she's showing signs and had severe PPD with her first and is now expecting her second. It was absolute hell for her, but she got through it, I just can't understand why someone would take that risk again, and also risk passing it on. I too made the decision not to have children, in part due to depression, but the decision is a joyous one for me. Freedom feels good :)

[–] Katiedidd 8 years ago

I totally agree Dr. Drew Pinsky is a caricature of his former self. He is not a doctor who happens to be on tv; he is "a tv doctor." With that said, he is board certified in addiction medicine, so there was probably at one point he was competent in some areas of therapy. PPD though? No. However, I will say, as a tv doctor, he was using it as more of a teaching moment for the masses: that it is in fact, treatable.

Still, that does not mean curable, especially when there is overlap with clinical depression, which is what Catelynn has. Dr. Drew should be more mindful of what he says. Yes, some is edited, but he repeatedly doesn't come across as reputable anymore.

As for Andrea Yates, she was definitely having too many children in too short of a span when the PPP was never being successfully treated. Even in times it seemed better, she'd have another child so soon, relapse, and her idiot husband was the complete opposite of her advocate. That dynamic was *beep*

If Catelynn really doesn't want more children because of clinical depression, exacerbated by PPD, I can respect that. I'd hope Dr. Drew can.