Postpartum Depression and Susan B

Depression has been a problem in my family for a long time. My mother and sister and I seemed always to be depressed when I was growing up. Eventually my mother committed suicide, when I was 16 years old.

Along with our depression went low metabolism, and, in my case, I can’t remember when I wasn’t battling my weight. I ate normal amounts of food but I was always fat.

Once, as an adult, I got so fed up with always being fat that I went on this rigorous program, exercising three hours a day, six days a week. I did slim down, of course. But it was impossible to keep up that kind of schedule. As soon as I slacked off even a little bit, the weight came right back on.

At the age of 45 I had a child. The moment she was born, I went into a massive depression. It was difficult caring for the baby because I didn’t feel any of the joy of motherhood but I still had all of the daily responsibilities. One day I was talking to my doctor about my depression, complaining a bit about how being over-weight contributed to my overall feelings of hopelessness. She told me about other patients of hers who had taken off weight by going to Dr. Platt. I decided to go see him, figuring that slimming down would be one way of improving my situation. Little did I realize it would be the solution to my depression, too.