Mental health - Post natal depression. Imagine you are Marlene, write a piece that would reflect her experiences if she were having Simon today and how you the social worker might assist her.

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Mental Health Assignment 1

The impact of mental illness: the voice of the consumer and carers

Imagine you are Marlene, write a piece that would reflect her experiences if she were having Simon today and how you the social worker might assist her.

Part One

Reflective piece on Marlene’s thoughts and feelings – and how it affected Doug, her mother etc.

Include: emptiness, hopelessness, tired, lack of connection with Simon, feeling like nobody else understands, guilt because she should be excited about a new baby, doesn’t have the energy for a new baby and toddler, Donna.

Don busy with work, Marlene not fulfilling her role.

Feeding difficulties with Simon, caesarian

Does she have close by support?  Lucy doesn’t have children yet. Parents live in Bendigo, close to mother

Marlene’s account

It was different being pregnant with Simon than it was with Donna. It seemed to go faster because I was busy with Donna but I was definitely more tired, and desperate to give birth by the end of it. I did not expect complications, as the first birth went so well, but as a trained midwife understood that emergency caesareans occurred. Everyone assumed everything was perfect for us because we had had a girl first and now a boy. I imagined that I would love Simon instantly, the way I had with Donna the moment she was born. But it just wasn’t the same. I was sore and tired from the Caesar. Simon did not feed well from the start. We did not seem to work well as a team. I just did not feel the rush of love that one should feel with a newborn.

At home I was exhausted caring from two young kids, was constantly sleep deprived and the feeding problems with Simon went on and on. I felt flat and disinterested in everyone and everything. Doug tried to be supportive but was busy with work. I couldn’t admit I had depression. As a trained midwife I should be on top of this. I remember working in maternity, and myself and other midwives wondering how on earth a new mother could be depressed, thinking they just needed to snap out of it and get on with it. I thought a couple of them were ungrateful princesses who were used to having everyone do things for them and they just didn’t have the backbone for mothering. How hard could it be?

As the weeks went on I felt increasingly hopeless, helpless, alone, and hated to leave the house. I was exhausted but did not sleep well. Feelings of failure overwhelmed me. Guilt for being “a bad mother” crept into my thoughts every day. My own mum seems so far away in Bendigo. Lucy tries to help but she does not have children so she cannot really understand. My life is miserable.

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Mel Child – any stories?

Post natal depression/Post partum depression

Hutchinson p. 128

Evidence suggests that between 10-15% mothers around the world experience post partum depression. Believed to be related to the huge changes in hormones at birth. Some women are particularly sensitive. Often undiagnosed. Impacts on the development relationship between mother and child. Often requires both social support and medical treatment (i.e. antidepressants). At first, most men are confused by their wives condition, however supportive. Less supportive if PND lasts many months. They often become more involved with the infant and daily nurturing tasks which can ...

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