Sally Wilson: My postpartum psychosis. Grateful for ECT. Nina McCallig: grateful for being sectioned.
I saw a midwife take Ella away, I believed they were taking her to be resuscitated because I’d harmed her.
I was convinced that because I’d hurt my baby I had died and was now living in the ‘after life’, a kind of hell.
The most terrifying nightmare imaginable was now my reality.
The nurses brought Ella to see me, to reassure me she was ok. I was convinced they’d swapped her.
This wasn’t my baby. My baby was dead. I had killed her.
Read the full article (BBC News)
Commentary
Psychosis is often truly terrifying for the sufferer. Hear Sally talking about it (audio clip, BBC)
Nina McCallig tells a similarly frightening story. In retrospect, she is grateful for being sectioned.
Further info
- Postpartum psychosis
- Being sectioned – YouTube has many moving accounts. Just two: from Arianecanfly – and the mental health charity Mind has posted Making sense of sectioning
Contributed by
Neil Turner