Eye On Health

Frisco Mother Fights Postpartum Depression Bill

FRISCO (CBS 11 News) ― Amy Philo of Frisco is now the happy mother of two, but in the days just after her son Issac's birth, anxiety and exhaustion took their toll. Her doctor prescribed Zoloft. That is when the unthinkable crossed her mind.

"As I walked past the stairs, I could see on the corner of my eyes what looked like me standing on the stairs holding him and then tossing him the rest of the way down to the bottom of the stairs," Philo explained.

Philo believes that it was not depression, but the drugs that nearly cost her everything. "They got worse as I raised the dose," she said. "And they even went to the point of not just my baby, but imagining doing mass murders of my family, my cats and my neighbors."

Life returned to normal when she stopped popping pills, Philo said.

Now, Philo has started a crusade against antidepressants, particularly a federal bill called The Mothers Act. It would provide education, access and research regarding postpartum depression. The Frisco mother thinks it dangerously overemphasizes the importance of medication. "There are a lot of ways to treat postpartum depression that don't involve drugs at all, that are very effective and don't have negative side effects."

Philo created a website and a YouTube video about her story, and a petition which has received more than 4,000 signatures. She is determined to kill the bill, which is currently in committee in the Senate. "I don't want to see what's going to happen if the bill passes," she said.

Many doctors support the bill, however, and say that the real danger is not in passing it. "By not letting the legislation pass through, there could be so many women that don't receive the education and screening that they should get, that aren't going to be properly diagnosed, and then could end up suffering," explained Dr. Elizabeth Stevenson, OBGYN. "It can affect them and their families."

But Philo maintains that it is a battle worth fighting. "The more women who go on these drugs, we're going to see more mothers committing suicide and homicide," she said.

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