From Publishers Weekly
Those who have dismissed postpartum depression as a minor condition will think again after reading this articulate and harrowing account. Resnick, a freelance writer whose work has appeared in the New York Times, was plunged into an abyss of insomnia, anxiety, depression and suicidal fantasies several months after her son was born, in stark contrast to the happiness and competence she felt after the birth of her daughter three years before. Although the cause of PPD remains unclear, the timing and course of the symptoms are unambiguous. However, Resnick, like many of the other women who suffer with this illness, was misdiagnosed by a physician who told her she simply needed a vacation. For months, she hid the severity of her insomnia and mood swings from her supportive husband. Finally, stressed and exhausted, Resnick began seeing a nurse psychotherapist who told her she had PPD and recommended antidepressants in addition to therapy. Resnick affectingly describes the guilt she felt over weaning her baby early so that she could take her medication without harming her child. She was also conflicted about her decision to turn over a good deal of the care for the children to her husband and babysitters so she would be able to recuperate. Slowly, she began to recover her stamina and pleasure in everyday family life. Grounded in vivid detail, Resnick's heartfelt memoir will reassure others who suffer from PPD that the condition, though serious, is treatable and temporary. Agent, Kim Witherspoon. (Feb.) Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Library Journal
After the birth of her second child, freelance journalist Resnick expected to resume her work and normal activities quickly. But within months, she found herself exhausted, anxious, unable to sleep, and plagued by loneliness and fears of harming her children. In the midst of this postpartum depression (PPD), she unsuccessfully sought out others who had survived a similar experience. "I wanted in on the whole story of a woman like me who was innocently conducting her job as a mother when she abruptly descended to hell." Doctors she consulted dismissed her fears. A support group was in summer recess. As a result, Resnick decided to chronicle her experience--the toll her PPD took on her family, her slow return to health, and her resistance to and eventual acceptance of antidepressants. "PPD," she says, "is not something that is obvious to anyone but experts in the field its symptoms weave themselves into the fabric of the normal stresses of early motherhood." And although it is temporary, it can lead to further depression if left untreated. Recommended for public libraries and consumer health collections.-Lucille M. Boone, San Jose P.L., CA Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.


Review
"An articulate and harrowing account...Grounded in vivid detail, Resnick's heartfelt memoir will reassure others who suffer from PPD that the condition, though serious, is treatable and temporary." --Publishers Weekly "This is a meticulously reported and passionate memoir which is must-reading not just for women who suffer with this underdiagnosed malady, but--especially--for the doctors who too often fail to treat them." --Tracy Thompson, author of The Beast "Susan Kushner Resnick's memoir does that important job of allowing the reader to enter the life and mind of a woman who is living with postpartum depression. The book is beautifully written--vivid, absorbing, full of charm. --Jane Bernstein, author of Bereft Departures, and Loving Rachel "At last, the women of America have a voice breaking through the mythology surrounding postpartum depression. Susan Kushner Resnick has written from her heart and soul about the neglected issue of child-bearing mood disorders." --Jane Honikman, founder of Postpartum Support International


Book Description
Sleepless Days is a brilliantly written, haunting memoir of one mother's encounter with postpartum depression. It is a story for the other 400,000 women who are afflicted with PPD each year and are desperate for reassurance that others have felt their despair and recovered. It is a compelling narrative for anyone who has ever watched helplessly as a vulnerable woman fought against the weight of this mysterious disease.


Book Info
Author's account of her descent into a type of depression seldom discussed and little known. Discusses how postpartum depression feels and how it is different from the 'baby blues.' For consumers.


From the Publisher
"Susan Kushner Resnick has written a real page-turner, a fast-paced, terrifying stroy of one woman's descent into a type of depression little discussed, little known, but here, finally, illuminated in prose that rings clear and sharp." -LAUREN SLATER, author of Prozac Diary and Welcome To My Country


About the Author
Susan Kushner Resnick worked as a reporter for various weekly and daily newspapers before becoming a freelance writer. Her work has appeared in the "Hers" column of The New York Times Magazine and in Natural Health and other periodicals.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Sleepless Days is a brilliantly written, haunting memoir of one mother's encounter with postpartum depression. It is a story for the other 400,000 women who are afflicted with PPD each year and are desperate for reassurance that others have felt their despair and recovered. It is a compelling narrative for anyone who has ever watched helplessly as a vulnerable woman fought against the weight of this mysterious disease.

"...an articulate and harrowing account...Grounded in vivid detail, Resnick's heartfelt memoir will reassure others who suffer from PPD that the condition, though serious, is treatable and temporary." (Publishers Weekly)

" This is a meticulously reported and passionate memoir which is must-reading not just for women who suffer with this underdiagnosed malady, but-especially-for the doctors who too often fail to treat them." (Tracy Thompson, author of The Beast)

" Susan Kushner Resnick's memoir does that important job of allowing the reader to enter the life and mind of a woman who is living with postpartum depression. The book is beautifully written-vivid, absorbing, full of charm." (Jane Bernstein, author of Bereft, Departures, and Loving Rachel)

" At last, the women of America have a voice breaking through the mythology surrounding postpartum depression. Susan Kushner Resnick has written from her heart and soul about the neglected issue of child bearing mood disorders." (Jane Honikman, founder of Postpartum Support International)