My Blog

20 years ago I was beginning  the descent into puerperal psychosis after the birth of my much wanted son. It was an illness I had never heard of, like many people. It is a rare mental illness that occurs usually within hours or days of the delivery of a baby, often linked to bipolar disorder. Yet the figures are roughly the same as Down’s Syndrome babies (1 in 500 births) and the majority of people have heard of that. My illness developed over 8 months due to sleep deprivation; a very ill baby; pressure to return to my teaching post; traumatic birth and possibly my own personality trait to want everything done perfectly. At my most severe I wandered the streets wearing just my nightclothes; self-harmed; threatened to harm my baby and bit my father. I did not want to die – I wanted my brain switched off.

20 years ago my family and I were stunned and ignorant of how ill I could become. Spending two months in a psychiatric hospital was not on my ‘plan’ of motherhood. Colleagues and friends expressed amazement at how someone like me who was organised; wanted my baby; was happily married with a supportive family could travel this path.

20 years ago all we were given was a black and white A4 leaflet describing the illness briefly and telling us a little about ECT (electro-convulsive therapy). It was the treatment that ‘brought me back’ along with medication; individual counselling and much support from my loved-ones.

20 years ago there wasn’t a wealth of information and support on the internet and Social media. I had no contact with anyone else who had been ill like me. It added to my feelings of failure. My family had no-one to use as reference that I would get better.

20 years ago birth books, magazines and the media in general would not mention this illness. There may have been a little about ‘baby blues’. Nothing else. I felt like a ‘weirdo’. In time I wrote my first book, ‘Eyes without Sparkle – a journey through postnatal illness’ (2005), to show how a women who potentially ‘had it all’ could become so close to suicide and then recover.  I am told that it has helped many people all over the world.

Fast forward to the glittering Soap Awards this evening and the fact that the best actress award went to Lacey Turner for her excellent portrayal of Stacey in EastEnders suffering this awful illness. The storyline won an award too.

I am thrilled! We can argue what good does featuring a mental health story in a soap do? Have a look at the information by Time to Change. Also this article by Sinead Rhodes identifies many of the positive aspects of featuring mental illness in soap operas, e.g. ‘this helps normalise the conditions and reduce the stigma associated with them.’  The mental health charity Mind organised a survey of more than 2,000 people, which found that half of the respondents who had seen a storyline involving a character with mental health problems said it had helped their understanding of the issues. Read more here.

I applaud EastEnders and the actors involved by researching fully about the illness and  working with the charities such as Mind, BiPolar UK and Action on Puerperal Psychosis.  In addition they consulted with two ladies Eve Canavan and Kathryn De Vecchi who are former sufferers  who very bravely shared their stories with the team. It touches me that my first book ‘Eyes without Sparkle – a journey through postnatal illness’ inspired them at a time when their lives seemed so bleak.

Tracey, Eve, Beth and Kathryn at my book launch in September 2015

20 years on we have the media and dramas sharing stories and there is a ‘sisterhood’ out there now through social media that allows us to connect.

20 years on I hope that many more people are increasingly educated about mental illness in the perinatal period both in the healthcare professions and society as a whole.

20 years on we are having conversations in Parliament about perinatal mental health. I am honoured to be going to a debate at the House of Lords on the 7th June on this topic, for example. I am proud to be part of a growing number of campaigners and supporters of perinatal mental health. Two days later I am part of a conference at Westminster Hall where many other speakers are MPs plus the incredible Alain Gregoire who has done much to raise awareness of perinatal mental health. If you have yet to watch ‘My baby, Psychosis and Me’ please do so.

20 years on we still have and will always have women who become seriously mental unwell following the birth of a baby. I like to believe that increasingly such women will have confidence to share their feelings without judgement; that preventative methods are increasingly in place (as in my second book ‘Another twinkle in the Eye – contemplating another pregnancy after perinatal mental illness’) and the services and treatments they need are readily available.

I fully acknowledge that we still have a long way to go to this ideal. We are much closer than 20 years ago – let’s all make it ‘Everyone’s Business’ to ensure that it doesn’t take another 20 years to achieve.

Many congratulations to Lacey and all the EastEnders team. Eve and Kathyrn – I am bursting with love and pride for you both!

Elaine 🙂