BETH: A STORY OF POSTPARTUM PSYCHOSIS
by Shirley Cervene Halvorson
Category: Biography & Autobiography

BETH: A Story of Postpartum Psychosis contains a true story of the suffering of my own daughter during an intense five months of the worse scenario of postpartum illness. This most severe form of postpartum illness is characterized by confusion, delusions, hallucinations, paranoia, agitation and disorganized speech and behavior. All of these are illustrated in this story. There has been no other book written from this perspective purely on postpartum psychosis. This story is told as an observer and confidante of my only daughter after the birth of her first child. Step by step I watched in horror as she became more distant from everyone and eventually took her own life. It tells of the gruesome reality of someone who becomes a different personality at the most important time of her life and the impact it had on our family and friends. Included is a biological background of Beth, the psychotic experience, how we handled this medically and emotionally, the grief that ensued, and how I became involved in helping others with similar postpartum illnesses. I had never heard of this biologically based illness. Immediate hospitalization is required with appropriate medications. The reader will become educated and find resources to help others through proven medical facts. We must give each new mother, with any postpartum mental illness, the message that she is never alone, she is blameless, and she will get better in time with the proper treatment.