Daily BrewPost-partum depression linked to Washington chase, Canadian tragedies
A terrifying and fatal standoff and police chase that played out near the White House this week appears to have at least a passing connection to the oft-undiagnosed post-partum depression, an affliction that haunts new mothers in the U.S. and Canada alike.
The Associated Press reports that the woman killed in a police standoff outside the Washington Capitol building was suffering from post-partum depression, according to her mother.
Idella Carey told reporters that her daughter, 34-year-old Miriam Carey, fell ill after giving birth to her daughter last year. The Associated Press reports that Miriam Carey had a one-year-old child in the car with her on Thursday when she tried to breach a security barrier near the White House and led Washington police on a car chase.
Carey was subsequently shot to death, while the child was unharmed and taken into protective custody.
[ Related: Mother: Woman killed in Washington police chase had post-partum depression ]
Post-partum depression is a debilitating affliction that affects about 13 per cent of new mothers, some of whom fall so low they consider or follow through with suicide and the killing of their children.
The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health defines post-partum depression as a “non-psychotic depression that women may experience shortly after childbirth."
Apart from the fact that it happens soon after childbirth, PPD is clinically no different from a depressive episode that occurs at any other time in a woman’s life. PPD symptoms are the same as in general depression and must meet the same criteria for diagnosis. However, not surprisingly, the content of the symptoms of PPD often focuses on motherhood or infant care.
Signs of post-partum depression include anxiety, a loss of interest in the baby and other things, restlessness, feelings of guilt and recurrent thoughts of death or suicide. Sadly, cases often go undiagnosed and can end in death.
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Canada has not been immune to these tragic conclusions. In July, the body of 32-year-old Lisa Gibson was pulled from the Red River in Winnipeg after her two children were found drowned in the family bathtub. Police confirmed on Thursday that Gibson killed her children before committing suicide.
Family members have confirmed that Gibson had sought help for post-partum depression and her death prompted calls for increased awareness.
But that is an uphill battle. An Alberta mother received a six-year sentence last year after drowning her children and surviving after jumping off of a freeway. An Ontario mother was charged, but found not criminally responsible, for the smothering death of her four-month-old son. Cases like these arise and yet so much more can be done to address them.
The Globe and Mail reported earlier this year that Canada has no system in place to monitor whether a new mother is suffering from post-partum depression, nor is there a process to analyze which maternal deaths are caused by such afflictions.
It is too soon to say whether post-partum depression played a role in what happened in Washington on Thursday, but if that is the case it should be a wake-up call to the U.S. and Canada about the depths of damage post-partum depression can cause.
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