2 out of 4 stars
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Until now, there is a stigma surrounding depression that prevents affected people from seeking help. Breaking the Grip of Postpartum Depression, a non-fiction book by Judy Dippel aims to free new mothers who suffer from drowning feelings more severe than the “baby blues.” This condition is known as “Postpartum Depression,” which affects about 15% of women after childbirth.
The author shares her and other mothers’ experience with Postpartum Depression. She includes the shame surrounding the condition, which makes it harder to talk about with family and friends. She offers practical advice that helps readers ease their feelings of helplessness. She also uses scriptures from the Christian bible to help readers live through their depression. She also discusses other conditions under the umbrella term “Perinatal Mood Disorders” such as Postpartum Anxiety, Postpartum Traumatic Stress Disorder, and Postpartum Psychosis.
Ms. Dippel provides a disclaimer that “the book is not intended to replace counseling, therapy, or medications that therapists or doctors recommend and may be of additional help.” Although the author provides information about Postpartum Depression, including its symptoms and treatment recommendations, she focuses on relating with the readers in their struggles, that they are not alone in their condition. The author does her best empathizing with the readers, as well empowering them with encouragement.
The author provides practical advice that looks commonplace, like eating nutritious food and sleeping for 8 to 10 hours a day. The advice can be applied not just to Postpartum Depression (or depression as a whole), but also to healthy living in general. Of course, it’s not bad to remind people to take good care of themselves, especially since the advice tends to be easily forgotten.
The Christian discussions about God’s benevolence comprise more than a half of the book. This makes the book relatable to the Christian community, but foreign to those not a part of it. Yet, the author mentions that “If you are not a ‘God person’ or a praying person, I beg you to keep an open mind and to not let the Christian aspect of my journey make you close this book.” Despite her intentions, her words don’t translate the scriptures well to encourage non-Christians. After quoting Jeremiah 24:6, the author writes, “What is significant is to be able to surrender to God what you cannot control. In doing so you’ll begin to see your life through the broad, wide angle lens of God’s perspective, not limited human vision. His direction and power is always at work, but he waits for you to yield to it—he promises to plant and not uproot—be patient, you’ll see that his dreams for you are even better than those you have for yourself.” Nevertheless, for those who are Christians, the book does a good job at resurfacing the muddled thoughts of the readers.
The author uses concrete imagery to help readers empathize with those who suffer from Postpartum Depression. This is shown in her metaphor of “frying an egg” to show how people’s minds can easily become confused and mushy when Postpartum Depression strikes. Sadly, it seems that she doesn’t have much to say about the condition, so her words tend to get repetitive. I guess the repetition helps to reinforce the idea, but it becomes a let down for others who want to know more about the condition.
Given the seriousness of the topic, the author manages to insert some “humor spots” which are mostly feel good jokes emphasizing the hardships of being a mother such as, "It's not easy being a mother. If it were easy, fathers would do it." This is a good addition to the book, as the “humor spots” help ease the dark thoughts of depression. I believe that there is room for improvement in this kind of style for those who wish to write other books about depression.
In general, Breaking the Grip of Postpartum Depression is a sufficiently relatable book that helps mothers understand their struggles, although I am not confident to claim that the book will help those who would read it. Overall, I rate this book 2 out of 4 stars. Sadly, I can only recommend this book to women (particularly Christian ones) who suffer from Postpartum Depression, even though men also suffer from the condition. For those who wish to read the book, I do hope that you’ll feel better, whether the book helps or not.
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Breaking the Grip of Postpartum Depression
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