This Isn't What I Expected: Overcoming Postpartum Depression

In this essential guide, two postpartum experts offer compassionate support and solid advice on dealing with every aspect of Postpartum Depression (PPD).

Revised and Updated Second Edition

“This Isn't What I Expected was instrumental in helping me overcome postpartum depression. The book not only helped me understand what was happening to me during the most puzzling and terrifying time in my life, but empowered me with the tools to cope through the utter despair.” ―Sandra Poulin, author of The Mother-to-Mother Postpartum Depression Support Group

If you or someone you love is among the one in seven women stricken by PPD, you know how hard it is to get real help. This proven self-help program, which can be used alone or with a support group or therapist, will help you monitor each phase of illness, recognize when you need professional help, cope with daily life, and recover with new strength and confidence.

Learn how to:

• Identify the symptoms of PPD and distinguish it from “baby blues”
• Deal with panic attacks, obsessive-compulsive urges, and stress overload
• Break the cycle of shame and negative thoughts
• Mobilize support from your husband or partner, family, and friends
• Seek and evaluate treatment options
• Cope with the disappointment and loss of self-esteem

“Practical, purposeful, and passionate ... an invaluable resource for postpartum moms, their families, and their friends. Karen Kleiman and Valerie Raskin share their wealth of clinical experience with a clear and engaging style that makes this now classic self-help book the perfect contemporary guide to finding the help you need now.” ―Shari I. Lusskin, Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Science at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

Karen Kleiman, MSW, LCSW, an international expert on postpartum depression, is the founder of The Postpartum Stress Center in Bryn Mawr, PA.

Valerie Davis Raskin, MD, is a Regional Medical Officer-Psychiatrist with the United States Foreign Service. She was formerly Chief of the Psychiatry Service and the Hines Veterans Administration Hospital, where she worked in the Women's Health Clinic, and was cofounder of the Women's Psychiatry Service in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Illinois College of Medicine at Chicago.