Georgia Russell

chapter 28

The next day at the hospital Georgia arrived at her appointment with Dr Wyatt, as promised Jo went with her.

Wyatt; hello Dr Russell, its lovely to meet you. I hear you are having a bit of post-partum depression, tell me how it is you are feeling.

Russell; I feel like I'm not good enough and that my partner and son would be better off without me. I then get overwhelmed with emotions and keep finding myself crying and I can't stop the feeling that Arizona doesn't find me attractive anymore, I feel disgustingly fat and I'm covered in scars.

Wyatt; okay, looking through your file you have been through so much and you are a survivor, why do you feel they would be better off without you?

Russell; umm, I don't know, I just feel like they would be better if I left. I can't calm Timothy like Arizona does, I'm.. I'm just not good enough, I shouldn't be a mom.

Wyatt; okay these feelings and thoughts come to a lot of new moms it's perfectly normal just some can't manage them as well as others. What we need to do is teach you different ways of overcoming these thoughts, this is a hard question but when you say better off without you are you having suicidal thoughts at all?

Russell; oh god no, I just mean if I were to leave them they would be better off.

Wyatt; okay good, that's good. I believe if we work together we will overcome this without the use of any medications. I like to avoid them as long as I can.
Also how are thing with Arizona, you said you no longer feel she finds you attractive. Have you been intimate at all since you gave birth?

Russell; umm well we have had sex once since he was born and things nearly happened the other day but that didn't go any further than kissing, Timothy woke up. So not using medication sounds good, what do you advise?

Wyatt; I find a lot of new parents find it difficult to manage intimate times when there is a newborn around, we can work on that in another session, I want to get on top of the low mood first so each time you feel in a low mood I want you to think of a safe place, any safe place and you need to go there in your mind. Where would your safe place be or it can also be a routine if that helps too, or even something from your childhood

Russell; umm okay, how about when I was a kid my mom used to take me to her work where she taught me to cook.

Wyatt; perfect, and what did you cook together? Think of the recipe you can remember and still make today. Think of the preparation, the routine you would take to make the finished product.

Russell; lasagna.

Wyatt; talk me through it now.

Russell; chop vegetables, cook mince, add onions first, sweat them down, add carrots, add tomatoes, stock then reduce down, finally add mushrooms.
Make cheese sauce, build lasagna alternating layers, cheese sauce on top, grated cheese on top of that bake in the oven until cooked.

Wyatt; good, good, do you feel that has helped?

Russell; kinda, its also made me hungry

Wyatt; perfect let's try repeating that each time you get thoughts and I want to see you again next week with an update on how well its working. You can always come back sooner if it is not working.

Russell; thank you Dr Wyatt, see you next week.

They shook hands and Georgia felt positive for the first time in a few weeks. Jo took her back home

Russell; thank you for taking me Jo I really appreciate it.

Wilson; it's nice to see your proper smile, you are very welcome. I'm just a call away if you need me.