Re: Feeling helpless

I am not sure what I can do to help my sister, who has PND.  I am from a pretty close family, but she lives interstate and none of us are able to provide any hands on support for her and her children.  I wish there was something I could do to help her, but short of moving interstate, I have no clue.  It can be difficult to feel so utterly helpless, just watching her struggle from so far away, and I am worried about her.  Any suggestions?

Hi Harriet

Here is a link to PANDA. PANDA is the National Post and Antenatal Depression Association Inc.

You can find a great deal of information and resources here.

http://www.panda.org.au/

Hi Harriett,

Harry's reply with a link to PANDA is a good start. I hope your sister has a good GP since even today some male GPs are not taking PND seriously. If she has a good GP who understands and accepts the idea of PND then that GP might refer her to a psychiatrist to be assessed whether she should be on some sort of anti-depressant medication. Alternatively a good GP might arrange for visits to a psychologist for cognitive behavioural therapy which is effective for some types of depression. Up to 8 psychologist visits per year can be billed to Medicare if her GP is kind enough and understanding enough to organize a Mental Health Care Plan for her. You say she lives interstate so I hope she at least lives in a capital city, if she lives in a remote regional area psychological/psychiatric care can be very hard to arrange since most practitioners live and work in larger population centres.

Thank you for all your suggestions and encouragement, I will look into PANDA's resources.  I guess it is true that sometimes we underestimate emotional support - even if loved one live nearby, there can be times when this is all we are able to offer and the feeling of helplessness remains...So thanks for pointing that out to me, I really appreciate all your contributions on this one.

Is it possible for you to go there for a short holiday to help her investigate what help is available in her area? Sometimes, when someone is too depressed, they don't have the energy to do this. If you could just get things rolling for her and hand over to those bodies that will be able to help her, you'd be doing her a great service. You'd only need to go  for a few days.