~ STRESSED MOMS ~

Severe emotional stress during the first delicate month of a woman's pregnancy may permanently impair the neuro-development of her unborn child, leading to an increased risk of schizophrenia later in life, new research suggests. An article in Time magazine: Stressed Moms, Schizophrenic Kids points to factors, during the development of a child, that leads one to think back to what happened during pregnancy.

The link between maternal stress and fetal development is not new: A study in 2000 suggested, for example, that a mother's stress during pregnancy may increase the risk of congenital brain malformations in her baby. And it has been well established that severe maternal stress is associated with low birth weight and premature birth.

This is an interesting article to read, and made me think back during my pregnancy with my daughter who has Schizophrenia and the events that occurred during the first and second trimester of my pregnancy. Little did I know.......What is interesting though is, all the years my daughter went to therapy, none of the many mental health providers ever asked me for any input, and my daughter went for over 1000 documented visits. Depression often follows when a expectant mother has been abused, mentally, emotionally and physically. Being pregnant only heightens the experience, because the mother has the natural instinct to protect her unborn child as well as herself. Many times the mother feels hopeless and defenseless in her surroundings, and she will put up with just about anything and internalize the hurt, which is not the thing to do. Many years ago, the help was not available, as it is today, and mother's just suffered in silence.

A recent survey by the National Alliance on Mental Illness, NAMI indicates Schizophrenia is a chronic, but manageable disease of the brain. More than two (2) millions Americans and their families face the condition every day. Imagine fighting a health care system that is so fragmented that you can't get what you need to recover from a serious mental illness. Treatment does work, if you can get it. The survey results reveal major gaps between what the public believes to be true about Schizophrenia, what science tells us, and the real experiences and realities of individuals affected by the illness.