how to help friend
Hi ladies,
My friend delivered her baby in the beginning of March and was required to go back to work about 2 weeks ago. She called me today on her lunch break because she needed to talk to someone. She told me she's been getting worse and worse over the past week and is suffering from PPD.
She has called her ob/gyn and also tried to make appointments with therapists but cannot be seen for about another 3 weeks due to her work schedule. Her job is offering no flexibility on this and she is completely overwhelmed.
While she denies any suicidal/harmful toward baby thoughts, she admitted that she has been tempted to take a handful of pills to just "feel number for a while."
I have offered to go with her to the hospital to get immediate treatment, but honestly, I don't know what they can do. Will they provide some sort of triage counseling, or start her on an antidepressant? Or will they just send her home since she's not actively suicidal?
Is there some other way to help her find therapy asap? I can't imagine how she would be able to suffer another 3 weeks of this before seeing someone.
Thank you.
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Re: how to help friend
Threatening to take a "handful of pills" is a huge red flag that things are deteriorating quickly. Does she have an EAP program through her work? If so, they may be able to recommend someone that can help after normal working hours. Depending on where she works, she may be able to qualify for leave though FMLA, which her employers couldn't deny.
Here is a link to Maryland Suicide/Crisis hotlines, by county. Some have PPD specific hotlines, but, even if she's not "suicidal," they may have additional resources that you haven't thought of yet.
https://suicidehotlines.com/maryland.html
If your friend absolutely cannot see anyone soon, offer to go and stay with her (if it's possible) for as long as she needs. It would be good for her to know that someone can take care of the baby, if she doesn't feel up for it, or if she needs a break, or if she just needs someone to cry/talk to.
http://tidetravel.weebly.com/index.html
The pills statement was what really caught my attention too. I had her write down a few hotlines (a PPD one, and the suicide ones) and emailed them to her too.
I don't think her job has an EAP, which is absurd. She's having trouble with the job to begin with because they're trying to deny her maternity leave, so she's used up all her PTO and it sounds like FMLA isn't an option, but I'm not clear on why.
She did let me know that her ob/gyn called her back to give her a prescription for an antidepressant, but I still don't think she'll be able to get in to see a therapist for a while.
Thank you for your advice and help.
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