I'm breaking my baby-moon to write about suicide, and the double-standard our society has about the subject. First let me say, in the wake of Robin Williams' death, that he was and always will be one of my favorite actors. He was so versatile in his talent, and he gave of himself fully so freely. He knew how to play the roles meant for child eyes amazingly well, yet could turn around and portray a role just for adults in the next time around. He was nothing short of amazing.
What I am particularly interested in right now is the fact that all over my social media feeds I see posts such as "You're free!" and "No more suffering." Coming from a background with mental illness, I am happy to see these posts. I can imagine a solidarity beaming up to him in Heaven from across the world, helping ease the transition. This eases my own soul. We are making progress. Robin Williams has been in our homes for, what, the past 40 years? For my whole life (not 40, btw!), at least. He's in our hearts forever in one sense. But we really don't know him at all. We just know of his face, his professional persona, to whom he may have donated, etc. But we don't really know him like we would know our family, close friends, church family, etc. We didn't know him. But we knew him. And for some, that seems to make it okay to let go of the judgement and offer peaceful condolences. On the other hand, when we see people in the news to whom we have no connection commit suicide, the reaction is strikingly different. It might be a teen girl who killed herself because she's lesbian and was brutally teased. Or a new mom with postpartum depression or even psychosis who may have not only killed herself in the mist of her suffering. Then, all of a sudden, our minds go from "be free from your suffering soul" to "How dare you?" "How selfish of you!" "Monster." The true monster is mental illness, whichever variety it takes on for that individual. The teen, the mom, their suffering was just as true as the suffering Robin Williams and a slew of other actors have faced. Who are we to judge? Why are we able to say "Be free" for one, and not for another? I know I have a bit of an insiders view on this topic since I've been there, but I know that even the person who has never suffered from mental illness can rise up from our judgmental society to recognize the suffering of someone with a mental illness. If there's one thing I hope arises out of the darkness of Robin Williams' passing, it would be an awareness for that suffering, knowledge that it can happen to anyone, regardless of money or status, and that everyone is precious, everyone matters.
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Curious, and disconcerting, are the newest numbers from the 2014 CDC Breastfeeding Report Card as they relate to Delaware families. The Director of Delaware's Division of Public Health, Dr. Karyl Rattay, "suspect(ed) the data will positively reflect the state's efforts" in the updated report card, however, the truth couldn't be further from the truth.
Dr. Rattay said in a recent Newswork interview that Delaware has begun, in recent years, to focus on this crucial health issue in hopes of raising the breastfeeding statistics to achieve a healthier state in areas such as the WIC program, promoting the Baby-Friendly Initiative (for which Beebe Hospital in Lewes, DE remains the only hospital in the state to achieve this designation), and other support services. Not only did Delaware's percentage of breastfeeding mothers and babies not remain the same, but they decreased in all but one category in the 2014 data from the CDC report and are considerably lower than national breastfeeding averages, as they have been for many years. Since 2007, percentages peaked in 2011 & 2012 with almost one-third of new (or new-again) mother and baby dyads at least attempting breastfeeding. It has since fallen to 65.7%. On the contrary, the national average has steadily risen with the 2014 data resting at 79.2%. See Delaware specific data from the CDC Breastfeeding Report Cards (2007-2014) below. Why do you think rates are falling? What can we do to change this trend? |
AuthorWelcome to Momma Trauma's Blog! Thoughts, empowering posts and stories straight from Momma Trauma herself, Birth Trauma families & birth professionals. Archives
July 2015
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