Out of the shadows Runners focus spotlight postpartum depression
by Carol Marshall
Staff writer
When Christine Hughes gave birth to her third child, postpartum depression hit her like a brick. To help get through it, she hit the bricks - in a pair of running shoes.
"At first I was just sort of bluesy. But in about three months, I was diagnosed with postpartum depression. Things just weren't getting better, and I said back then that when they did get better, I was going to do something about this," said Hughes, of Canton.
What made things worse for Hughes is the fact she had to suffer through the travails of postpartum depression alone. That is until she found a support group in Ann Arbor.
"It just can't be like this, that in an area like southeast Michigan there isn't really anywhere to go for help," she said.
Hughes, along with other members of the Dirt Road Divas, a women's running club she started three years ago, will host a July 30 run through Canton to raise awareness and cash to support the Postpartum Support Group of Michigan.
"The more I talk to other women, the more I find just about everyone has at least a mild case of it," said Heidi Shade, a mother of two from Plymouth who will participate in the run later this month. "Of course I want to support my divas, but also I want people to be more aware of postpartum depression."
Hughes started the running group before her youngest daughter, 14-month-old Ava, was even thought of. The women - 51 in all - meet regularly to run and talk and share some time for themselves and their health. The physical activity helped her deal with the stress of motherhood and the depression, but she also found that the more she talked with her running buddies, the more she realized she is not alone.
Hughes was at first secretive about her depression. Hughes was able to find a good psychologist, and the support group in Ann Arbor, and is managing the depression now, but that wasn't always the case.
"They tell you to see a psychologist, but there really is no one to refer you to. It's no wonder that so many women are suffering alone," she said.
To help raise awareness about resources, the Dirt Road Divas decided to run for a cause, and organized the Pounding Pavement & Dirt for Postpartum Depression run.
"We've all participated in runs for cancer, leukemia and heart disease, but there are no events for this," said Dirt Road Diva Kristen Brant of Canton.
Get people talking, too
It's awareness that the group hopes to raise - even more than the money, which will help buy supplies for the Postpartum Depression Support Group, a totally self-sustaining group which is free for its members to use.
"We need for people to be able to talk about this," said Brant. "This is as much for the husbands, the friends and the relatives of the women who have postpartum depression as it is for the people who are depressed. They need to know there is help out there."
Though Dana Beck of Livonia did not have postpartum depression, the mother of three feels sad for those who have.
"It's just so unexpected, and once you have it, postpartum depression is so hard to deal with," Beck said. "People can be so critical, and they tell women to snap out of it. But you can't just snap out of it without help. You can't just fix yourself."
For more information about the Pounding Pavement & Dirt for Postpartum Depression 5k, 10k and 25k walk and run, e-mail Christine Hughes at
echughes96@yahoo.com, or visit the Web site at cantonconnection. fcstorm. net. The run will be at 7:30 a.m. Saturday July 30, and will start and finish at Independence Park in Canton, at the corner of Denton and Proctor roads.
PPD (article) 
