Tuesday, March 17, 2015

The Mental Health of Teen Moms Matters via Seleni

I have written about the importance of addressing the high rates of postpartum depression in teenage mothers before; I've also written about my personal struggles with mental health in an effort to be honest with myself and help others who might feel they are in the struggle alone.

The folks over at Seleni are interested in helping teenage parents deal with their high rates of post part depression and interviewed me and a few of the #NoTeenShame mamas about the importance of mental health when it comes to pregnant and parenting teen parents.

The Mental Health of Teen Moms Maters 

Teen moms face plenty of challenges, from dealing with the shame and stigma of an unplanned pregnancy to finishing school and finding employment. But many must also deal with the challenges of mental illness. Researchers have found that twice as many teen moms are at risk of developing postpartum depression (PPD) as their older counterparts. And nearly three times as many teens with mental illness get pregnant as adolescents without a disorder. 
"At 17, 'postpartum depression' wasn't really in my vocabulary," says Martinez. When she gave birth to her fourth child at age 30, she experienced PPD again. But this time, she had a husband and a career as an early childhood educator, and people reacted with more empathy. 
Mood disorders make teen parenting even harder"There were times I called my mom to come over because my son was crying, and it was like the noise of scratching a chalkboard," says Shiloh (who asked that we only use her first name), a 28-year-old mom to two children, who lives in northwest Missouri. Shiloh was diagnosed with cyclothymia – often considered a precursor to bipolar disorder – just after high school before she became pregnant with her first child, who was born when she was 19.
Read the article over at Seleni.com 
Posted by at 9:30 AM

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