Dear editor,

A few weeks ago, I was having a discussion with a young lady about depression in children and she offered an explanation I had never heard before which left me thinking about depression in a new way. Not only that, but I did recall Dr Sharmaine Mitchell responding to an enquiry of that sort in your magazine some time ago.

The young lady in question was telling me about the symptoms her five-year-old daughter had been exhibiting that morning, ie, not feeling lively, not wanting to get out of bed, not wanting to go to school and generally feeling low. This was the first time she had seen her daughter like this.
The young lady was very perplexed about the whole situation and didn't know what to make of it. As we talked she told me about the depression she had fallen into when she was pregnant with her daughter. I suggested to her that maybe her daughter was showing some signs of depression; but I am not an expert, she would need to seek help and advice from a professional.

The interesting thing she did tell me was that her mother and aunt had both advised her not to breastfeed because the breast milk would be a transmitter of the depressive disease to the child. They were not talking about the breast milk containing anti-depressant drugs from medication, but from naturally created mother's breast milk in the mother's hormones. She followed this advice for many months because her mum and aunt were watching her like a hawk to make sure she didn't, but when their backs were turned she breastfed her daughter in secret. She confessed that it was laziness that caused her to breastfeed (against their advice) because she often couldn't be bothered to make the porridge for the baby.

Her mother and aunt seemed so sure about this that I am also wondering if they have a point. I would like to know, is there any truth in this or is it just an old wives' tale?
- Oralette Dawn Duncan

Send comments to allwoman@jamaicaobserver.com

Mothers can't father

Trousers in Denim

Cream of the 'Crop'