ABSTRACT
How does a woman move forward when her deeply rooted fears keep her from telling the truth to those who surround her with love and support? How does she confide in others in the face of such widespread misunderstanding and potential for alarm? We have discussed various barriers to disclosure and subsequent relief from the woman’s standpoint-the overlap of normal postpartum worries and those that are problematic, thinking and feeling badly about herself, the perception that others will think negatively of her, overreaction to misleading information, rigid social and cultural expectations, and the overwhelmingly pervasive fear that any disclosure is bound to lead to something catastrophic. But a postpartum woman’s unwillingness to reveal the extent to which she is suffering, in general, and the nature of her scary thoughts, in particular, is still only half the problem.
