ThatsLife
  • WIN
  • News
  • Real Life
  • Food
  • Lifestyle
  • Pets
  • Your Stars
  • Puzzles
  • Podcasts
  • Video
ThatsLife
  • WIN
  • News
  • Real Life
  • Food
  • Lifestyle
  • Pets
  • Your Stars
  • Puzzles
  • Podcasts
  • Video
Subscribe
There's A Better, Faster Way To Predict Sepsis
Watch 0:37

There's A Better, Faster Way To Predict Sepsis

{headline}

{headline}

This part of motherhood is most likely to trigger postnatal depression

This part of motherhood is most likely to trigger postnatal depression

Having a baby CURED this woman's brain tumours

Having a baby CURED this woman's brain tumours

More details emerge in case of mother who threw her baby out of a moving car

More details emerge in case of mother who threw her baby out of a moving car

MAFS star opens up about ‘darkest moment as a mother'

MAFS star opens up about ‘darkest moment as a mother'

{headline}

{headline}

Woman’s message for 'bad mums' goes viral

Woman’s message for 'bad mums' goes viral

Mum’s shock confession: I imagined hurting my baby

Mum’s shock confession: I imagined hurting my baby

Postnatal depression is less likely in mothers if delivered in these months

Postnatal depression is less likely in mothers if delivered in these months

{headline}

{headline}

I woke up with no hands and feet

I woke up with no hands and feet

How chalk found me love!

How chalk found me love!

Gone for 13 minutes – then my boy came back to life!

Gone for 13 minutes – then my boy came back to life!

Pregnant at 51 – My mum had my baby

Pregnant at 51 – My mum had my baby

Brave Bella - saved by her twin!

Brave Bella - saved by her twin!

We found $40,000 in our garage!

We found $40,000 in our garage!

I SHAVED my head on my WEDDING day!

I SHAVED my head on my WEDDING day!

  1. Home
  2. Real Life

Shocking treatment for mum's post-natal depression

Now she's fully recovered! - by Eva Lewicki
  • 13 Apr 2018
Shocking treatment for mum's post-natal depression

Mum Leah Bennett, 28, from Queensland, was stunned when doctors revealed their plan to treat her postnatal depression. But she couldn't be happier with the results.

Here she explains her story in her own words.

Sitting in the doctor’s room, I felt frightened. He’d just suggested a terrifying treatment for my depression.

‘So,’ I said, ‘You want to electrocute my brain?’ It was a lot to take in, but it felt like a last resort. The journey to this point had been terrible.

When I was pregnant with my second son, Payton, I’d gotten very down and been given antidepressants.  After his birth I began suffering from post-natal depression.

For months, I hid it, crying in the shower. Exhausted – I couldn’t even play with my kids. ‘I’m worried about you,’ said my husband Wayne, 32. 

Mum Leah Bennett with her baby son Payton

Leah with her son Payton

Supplied/Leah Bennett

More pills and a psychologist didn’t cure me, and although I loved my job as a nurse, I began calling in sick. Then, when Payton was one, I found myself thinking of ways to end my life.

Before I could do it, another nurse asked if I was all right. ‘I’m not,’ I confessed, and broke down. I spent 10 days in a mental health ward but after three weeks at home I was back feeling down.

‘She’s no better,’ Wayne said. ‘She needs help.’ That’s when the doctor suggested electroconvulsive therapy, or ECT.

‘It should change your brain chemistry. I know it sounds scary,’ he said. Scary? It sounded terrifying! I thought of a movie, One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest, where a character writhes in agony.

Thankfully, the reality wasn’t as bad.

I forgot how I'd got to the hospital

Leah Bennett suffered from post-natal depression

Leah after her second treatment

Supplied/Leah Bennett

‘You’ll be unconscious,’ the doctor assured me. ‘So you won’t feel a thing.’

There was a chance my memory could be affected, but digesting the news, I decided to go for it.

I can’t go on like this, I realised.  So they put me under, applied electrodes to my temples, and shocked my brain.

When I came to I felt exhausted and for a while, I forgot how I’d got to the hospital.

Leah's bracelet tells her story

Leah's bracelet tells her story

Supplied/Leah Bennett

After 17 sessions over several weeks, I felt much better. ‘You’re smiling again,’ Wayne said, stunned. ‘I feel happy!’ I said.

I even laughed again.

In fact, I was so thrilled I raised $7500 for beyondblue, a non-profit organisation which helps those with depression and anxiety.

Now I’m fully recovered, back at work, and love playing with my sons, Slater, eight, and Payton, 14 months.

I feel blessed. ECT is a last resort, but I wouldn’t be here without it. ●

If you or someone you know is struggling, call Lifeline on 13 11 14.

What is ECT?

■ (ECT) is used to treat certain psychiatric conditions.

■ An electric current is passed through the brain to change activity.

■ It can relieve symptoms of severe depression and psychosis.

■ Although it is safe, it should only be used if absolutely necessary.

Subscribe to That's Life Weekly & Save!-

Subscribe Now
Subscribe to That's Life Weekly & Save!

Subscribe to That's Life Weekly & Save!-

Subscribe Now
Subscribe to That's Life Weekly & Save!

Recommended to you

There's A Better, Faster Way To Predict Sepsis
Watch 0:37

There's A Better, Faster Way To Predict Sepsis

{headline}

{headline}

This part of motherhood is most likely to trigger postnatal depression

This part of motherhood is most likely to trigger postnatal depression

Having a baby CURED this woman's brain tumours

Having a baby CURED this woman's brain tumours

More details emerge in case of mother who threw her baby out of a moving car

More details emerge in case of mother who threw her baby out of a moving car

MAFS star opens up about ‘darkest moment as a mother'

MAFS star opens up about ‘darkest moment as a mother'

{headline}

{headline}

Woman’s message for 'bad mums' goes viral

Woman’s message for 'bad mums' goes viral

Mum’s shock confession: I imagined hurting my baby

Mum’s shock confession: I imagined hurting my baby

Postnatal depression is less likely in mothers if delivered in these months

Postnatal depression is less likely in mothers if delivered in these months

{headline}

{headline}

I woke up with no hands and feet

I woke up with no hands and feet

How chalk found me love!

How chalk found me love!

Gone for 13 minutes – then my boy came back to life!

Gone for 13 minutes – then my boy came back to life!

Pregnant at 51 – My mum had my baby

Pregnant at 51 – My mum had my baby

Brave Bella - saved by her twin!

Brave Bella - saved by her twin!

We found $40,000 in our garage!

We found $40,000 in our garage!

I SHAVED my head on my WEDDING day!

I SHAVED my head on my WEDDING day!

ThatsLife
  • Gold Club
  • Online Entry FAQ
  • About Us
  • Subscribe Today
  • Contact Us
  • Terms
  • Competitions
  • Privacy Policy
ThatsLife Magazine Subscribe
  • Gold Club
  • Online Entry FAQ
  • About Us
  • Subscribe Today
  • Contact Us
  • Terms
  • Competitions
  • Privacy Policy

Brands

  • New Idea
  • Who
  • Girlfriend
  • Practical Parenting

Our Network

  • Better Homes and Gardens
  • BHG Shop
  • marie claire
  • Beauty Crew
  • New Idea food
  • Women's Weekly Food
  • Bounty Parents
  • Home Beautiful
  • All Recipes
  • 7plus
  • 7News
  • Health Engine
  • Starts at 60
  • The West Australian
  • Perth Now
  • Airtasker
  • Society One
© 2021 Are Media PTY LTD
Get more from

Magazine Subscription Offer

Subscribe to That's Life Weekly & Save!-

Shop This Offer
Subscribe to That's Life Weekly & Save!