Getting help for postpartum depression requires telling someone

I tried to get help from my OB, but it just didn't work out.  Before you have a baby, the nurse gives you all these pamphlets and brochures about postpartum depression, and they even make you sign a form that says you have been educated about it.  I used to work on the financial side of the healthcare industry, and I'm a big believer in preventive health.  So I compliantly went to my six week follow-up visit fully intending to get help for what I was sure was postpartum depression.

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However, when the triage nurse asked me if I was experiencing any signs of postpartum depression, instead of saying, "Yes, I wake up crying every day.  I don't want to get out of bed when my baby cries.  I have panic attacks that start when I wake up and don't end until I go to bed.  I can't breathe."  I said, "Um, I think I might have a little bit of anxiety."  I watched her write "anxiety" on my chart.

My OB then walked in looking at my chart, and cheerily asked me how I was doing.  I beamed at her and said, "Great!  I'm doing just fine!"  She never asked about the "anxiety" written on my chart.  I don't blame my doctor.  She asked how I was doing, and I didn't answer honestly.  She was trained to take care of me physically, and she is extremely competent at what she does.  It's just not easy to come out and say, "I think I have postpartum depression" the way it's easy to say, "I have really bad nausea," or "I think I have hemorrhoids."  I was insecure about a lot of things, and I guess I would feel like a drama queen saying I had PPD.  I was a little afraid that she would say it was nothing, and then I would be really embarrassed.

The way doctors educate and screen for postpartum depression should really be designed by psychologists instead of legislators or whoever came up with the current method.  Instead of making you sign something saying that you received PPD education before you have the baby, they should also give you a short, one-minute quiz a few weeks or months after you have the baby.  I don't know if some doctors already do this, but I'm assuming it's not required by law, since I didn't get any such quiz.  It would be much easier to circle a bunch of yes/no questions than to come out and say "I think I have PPD."