Postpartum Depression Demystified – By Joyce A Venis & Suzanne McCloskey (Paperback)

Product Description

About the Book

Postpartum depression is the most common complication women experience after childbirth nearly 700,000 new moms suffer from it each year. Yet this serious mood disorder, characterized by sadness, anxiety, feelings of hopelessness and guilt, insomnia, and thoughts of harming the baby or oneself, continues to be widely misunderstood and frequently misdiagnosed. In “Postpartum Depression Demystified, ” renowned PPD authority Joyce Venis and Suzanne McCloskey, both PPD sufferers themselves, turn their combined experience and expertise into an insightful and supportive guide for everyone living with and seeking to understand this condition. Venis and McCloskey cover topics including:
the nature of PPD and how it differs from other perinatal mood disorders
how to recognize and cope with the symptoms
how to obtain an accurate diagnosis
key risk factors and how to minimize them
medications and therapies
getting the support you need from your partner, family, and friends
how PPD can affect your relationship with your partner and your baby
nurturing yourself through recovery”

Book Synopsis

– The most common complication faced by new mothers: Each year nearly 400,000 new moms suffer from postpartum depression (PPD)–a serious mood disorder characterized by sadness, anxiety or panic attacks, feelings of hopelessness and guilt, insomnia, and thoughts of harming the baby or oneself–and it continues to be misunderstood and often misdiagnosed. – Direct, accessible, rational advice: In Postpartum Depression Demystified, renowned PPD authority Joyce Venis and Suzanne McCloskey, both PPD sufferers themselves, turn their combined experience and expertise into an insightful and supportive guide for everyone seeking to understand this condition. In simple terms, Venis and McCloskey explain what postpartum depression is, how to recognize the symptoms, key risk factors, medications and therapies, effective coping mechanisms, and more. Postpartum Depression Demystified is essential reading for every woman who has–or thinks she may have–PPD, as well as family, friends, and caregivers. – PPD–a hot topic: Postpartum depression is garnering more attention following the publication of successful PPD memoirs by Brooke Shields and Marie Osmond and media coverage of the Andrea Yates retrial and the Mary Winkler murder case in Tennessee. New mothers are more aware of the condition and the need has never been greater for a plain-speaking, authoritative guide demystifying the subject.

About the Author

Joyce A. Venis, RNC is a Psychiatric Registered Nurse and the president of Depression After Delivery, Inc. With over thirty years of nursing experience, Venis is a nationally recognized figure and highly regarded for her work and clinical expertise in pregnancy, postpartum, PMS, perimenopause, and menopause. Venis is founder and director of the Princeton Area D.A.D., Inc. PPD support group. She also started the first PMS support group in New Jersey, which continues today as the Women’s Support Group at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital.

Venis lectures extensively (at venues including Harvard and Fordham universities), has been on multiple television and radios shows, including Geraldo, Oxygen, and Lifetime, and was selected for inclusion in Who’s Who in American Nursing. She has been interviewed for various publications including Newsweek, the Chicago Sun, Parenting, Parents, American Baby, and Jet. She has testified before Congress, participated in the formulation of a state resolution, and was an instrumental witness for a PPD case in New Jersey. Perhaps, most notably in this context, she is a PPD survivor. Her son, Mark, is now thirty-five years old and is affectionately called the “PMS/PPD Poster Child”. Her plight took her through twenty-two different healthcare modalities during her PPD. “There is no reason for anyone to suffer as I did . . . that is why I do what I do. It was meant to be.” Besides her son Mark, Ms. Venis has three stepdaughters and four grandchildren. She lives in northern New Jersey.

Suzanne McCloskey was until January 2006 an editor at Marlowe & Company, where she acquired and edited many books on health, psychology, relationships, and parenting, including, in the Demystified series, Borderline Personality Disorder Demystified. She lives in Westchester County, NY.