Originally posted May 13, 2012.
Celebrate Good Enough Mothering! Celebrate Mother’s Day!
The mass media has done it again.
Time has added to the negativity and sexism pervading the culture. Instead of supporting good enough mothering, Time is pressuring women to participate in mommy wars.
Don’t give in to internalized sexism.
Don’t let them fuel the flames of mommy wars.
Happy Mother’s Day to all those good enough moms & families.
Did you know May is Maternal Mental Health Month?
Why doesn’t Time print that?
Well, lots of us women bloggers have.
One in four women suffers depression at some point in her life. And the time around the childbearing year is when a woman is more likely to suffer depression than at any other time in her life (Nonacs, 2006). Ruta Nonacs, MD (2011), editor-in-chief of Massachusetts General Hospital’s Center of Women’s Mental Health’s website estimates annually in the US about 950,000 to 1,000,000 mothers suffer from depression either during or after childbirth every year, out of a total of about 4 million birthing mothers.
Is Time is determined to help make that statistic go up and be one in three women, eh?
There are effective treatments for depression and postpartum depression. Sadly, the World Health Organization (WHO, 2012) estimates less than 25 % of persons affected by depression receive any treatment at all.
WHO (2012) says social stigma associated with mental illness (simply put, shame), lack of personal resources and the lack of trained clinicians are the top barriers to receiving proper treatment.
So, think about that, only about 25% of those moms actually seek and receive help for perinatal depression. So many women cope all alone, managing their very real emotional pain while in the at the same time coping with an infant.
Fight to keep those pervasive sexist messages out of your psyche.
Have a Beautiful May and Celebrate Mother’s Day!
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