Postby GWcouns » Mon May 14, 2012 9:51 am
Words can't even begin to express it, can they. For the husband, who found them, and has lost his wife and children. I know she didn't pass away but he has effectively lost her. And the poor wife, my god, what life is there now for her? She has truly lost everything, herself included.
PND is awful, and what I remember of it after I had my second son was that I found it impossible to talk about. I didn't actually know what was wrong with me, and you are in such a fog of tiredness and a crying baby that the last thing you are going to do is say to someone "I think I have post-natal depression" I just kind of became a robot, and was so lost and hurting inside. I eventually did see a doctor, a year later, and had some therapy. But I still feel that was a lost year of my life.
The only hope is that someone close recognises it. With a bit of guesswork I'd say this guy left for work pretty early every morning,(he works in city) wife (with PND) at home with one-year old and 10 week old, maybe alone all day, and throw into the pot they had just gone through one of the most stressful life events we can experience, moving house. My guess would be she was suffering from PND, it was building up and building up, and something happened that day to tip her over into a psychosis. it could have been both babies crying constantly, she had lots to do still with all the unpacking etc, add a few weeks of no sleep and underlying PND and maybe that was enough to cause to her to crack.
I doubt she was aware of what she was doing at the time. When a person has a psychotic episode it is often described afterwards as being, if it is remembered at all, as being like a dream, or as if they were having an out of body experience. (I am a student of psychotherapeutic treatments and we have been studying psychosis recently)
My heart breaks for this couple, and their parents and their extended family and friends. There but for the grace of God go I seems the only thing I can think of.
Please, if you are a new mum, and feeling weird, down, unhappy, frightened, anything that doesn't fit with your normal personality, and it has gone on for more than a few days, talk to your GP or mid-wife. Don't let it drag on, it won't just go away.
