Red Thread Legend
Sunday, April 19, 2009
And Winter Came with Hope...and Christmas Brought Joy
It was hard getting into the Christmas spirit. The PAD (post Adoption Depression) was hanging on. Statics show that 65% of all international adoptive parents suffer from some form of PAD. (Yet only 8% reported that they had been advised by their Social Workers or agencies that this syndrome even existed. Wow, that's sad.) Out of that 65%, 45% reported that their symptoms lasted for more than 6 months. Ouch! 85% of suffers reported that their depression affected their health in some way. (serious weight loss/gain followed by sleep disturbances. (I fit right in. Lossed 22 pounds and no sleep for 6 weeks! Talking about a nightmare!) 70% of suffers felt that PAD had interfered with a smooth transition and bonding with their children. I too felt that. Jade was calling me "MAMA" readily all the time. But I was having a hard time accepting it at first. Four months into coming home though, my symptoms were starting to subside. I had lots of support from family members and my adoption community friends with witch I had been in constant touch with. By the way, "Thank you to all of you for seeing me through this." You know who you are. :) It was about a week before Christmas and our tree finally went up. That was a good sign. Avoidance had been a big issue with me. Jade enjoyed her first Christmas the way it was meant to be! And life was getting brighter!
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