When a one sided questionaire isn't enough!

I came across this article and I couldn't help but think this is so familiar. We need more education and awareness when it comes to parents mental health in the NICU setting. Most of the time a one sided questionnaire doesn't do alot of us justice. I also feel if mental health was talked about more parents wouldn't feel so emabarrassed to admit  their is something going on. Most of the time  parents are hit with overwhelming emotions while in the NICU which makes it 20 times harder to realize something is off with your mental health.  We need more in depth options to help families cope with the NICU as well as outside of those NICU doors. PTSD usually occurs or is noticed after  discharge and while families are home with the child.

http://m.huffingtonpost.co.uk/vicki-moore/slipping-through-the-crac_b_12774430.html

Facing Ignorance

My Mental Health is Just As Important As My Physical Health

#MENTALHEALTH
Depression and Anxiety are not always sad days. Everyone deals with their own mental health differently. Be an open ear and do your best to just be a shoulder to lean on. Mental health needs to be talked more about its a serious part of a lot of individuals and families lives. My name is Lorrie and I have had social anxiety my whole life which has turned into severe anxieties and Depression after my twins were born severely premature. If i was able to understand the warning signs a lot better back then and actually took those little paper tests seriously while in the hospital, I may of have found help sooner than later. I also feel that males should be given the same choices opportunities and understandings after any birth especially a traumatic one. Prematurity and the Neonatal Intensive care unit can be a very traumatic place to be at. Many times its compared to a war zone with everything that occurs in that unit and what families are put up against, the decisions they have to make right on the spot, constant beeps and alarms, seeing other families go through it and seeing life and death all around you. I would not wish that on my worse enemy. Life after the Nicu for some doesn't just stop after discharge for others it keep going beyond that. For us, we still fight those beeps in our heads and our twins still fight, but in other ways now. I wasn't able to cope with my mental health for the past 4,5 years because of the struggles we faced. Doesn't make me any less of a person for that. My point is before you drop someone because you cant understand their reasoning, or tell someone they are being over dramatic, or get upset that they cant be their for you all the time. YOU MAY NOT EVEN KNOW THAT YOUR FRIEND IS STRUGGLING . Love them always no matter what , support them and be their shoulder!.