This Mother’s Day edition of “#WithChude” covers a topic that is rarely discussed: postnatal depression.
Tradition, literature, the media, and news reports all teach us that following the birth of a child, parents, dads, and mothers should be filled with nothing but the most radiant pleasure. But this is a sickness. And so many women are affected by it. And we need to speak about it.
Chude Jideonwo has this to say about this episode:
There’s too much stigma in Nigeria and in so many societies if the African continent. We stigmatize everything, you know one of the blessings of my life is that I do not respect stigma. I remember the first time I was going to see a therapist, the first time I talked about having Tourette’s syndrome. The first time I talked about anything, you know or just living my life as a single man at 36 just all kinds of things that people say is a taboo, that you don’t do like this or like that, so these people don’t see you like this. I don’t understand it, I don’t understand it. And it’s frustrating for me because the more I talk to people, the more I interview people, the more I see people not getting help because they are afraid of being stigmatized, why is the stigma in a person seeing a psychiatrist when they have a mental health problem? Why is it stigmatized? Why is it stigmatized if a person has, as they say, lost their mind? Why is it stigmatized? Even if the person ran out of their house naked in the morning because they had lost their minds, why should that be a cause for stigma? Why isn’t that a cause for empathy, support, love, for care??? What is wrong with us as a people that we find such a need to label, exclude, delegitimize. What is it about us?
And to all women, mothers who are suffering from postpartum depression, you are not alone and you can get the help that you need and there’s nothing wrong with getting help.
<img src="https://www.mtlblog.com/media-library/justin-trudeau-and-his-son-xavier.jpg?id=60143500&width=1200&height=400&coordinates=0%2C112%2C0%2C112"/><br/><br/><p>Now that he's stepped away from politics, no one's quite sure what <a href="https://www.mtlblog.com/tag/justin-trudeau" target="_blank">Justin Trudeau</a> plans to do next. But in the meantime, he's fully embracing dad life — cracking corny jokes, roasting his son's dance moves, and admitting he's totally out of touch with social media.</p><p>In a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAaO2Ia761c" target="_blank">new video</a> titled "JUSTIN TRUDEAU reacts to 'Back Me Up' by Xav," Trudeau sits down to watch the latest music video by his son, <a href="https://www.mtlblog.com/justin-trudeau-son-music" target="_blank">Xavier, who recently launched a rap career under the stage name Xav</a>.</p><p>The clip opens with Canada's former Prime Minister confessing he hasn't exactly been keeping up with his son's content.</p><p>"Yeah. I think I missed one of the videos," he says.</p><p>"How? You got to watch that, man!" Xav replies.</p><p>"I don’t have social media," Trudeau explains.</p><p>"Come on. Who runs your Instagram? You don't run it?"</p><p>"It’s... apparently I'm not qualified to run it anymore."</p><blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/DJFY3nSxz6v/" data-instgrm-version="4" style="background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:658px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);">
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</blockquote><script async="" defer="" src="//platform.instagram.com/en_US/embeds.js"></script><p>Still, the ex-world leader seems impressed enough with the video's vibe to throw out some compliments.</p><p>"Hey, you make Ottawa look cool!" says Trudeau.</p><p>"I know... Ottawa's lit," Xav agrees.</p><p>Of course, it wouldn’t be a father-son moment without at least one classic safety check. Watching Xav climb through a sunroof in the video, Trudeau immediately slips into parental mode:</p><p>"So here you're wearing your seat belt, right?"</p><p> "Of course."</p><p> "You're hanging out the roof. You were wearing your seat belt?" he asks again.</p><p> "Oh, I was harnessed in."</p><p>Then comes the roast.</p><p> "So here you are, being a cool musician-rapper, and you're getting honked at for going too slow in the fast lane," the 53-year-old remarks. "Sort of puts things into perspective... As a dad, I'm very proud of you."</p><p><br/></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-youtube">
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</p><p>Xav later goes on to explain that <em>Back Me Up</em> marks a shift in his usual lyrical subject matter.</p><p>"My first two were kind of love songs, you know, sensitive heart stuff. And I mean, I’m a sensitive person, but this one's more 'player,' more lifestyle," the 17-year-old explains. </p><p>"So that's why you asked me to watch. Get Dad in here instead of Mom, right?"<br/></p><p> "Exactly."</p><p>Later, as they talk about the video's dancers, Trudeau delivers another burn.</p><p>"These dancers, they were like really good," says Xav.</p><p> "No, they're outstanding. They actually make it look like you can dance. This is what backup dancers are all about... You inherited my dancing genes."</p><p> "I didn't pick up your singing skills. I don't know who I got that from. Mom, maybe?" Xav quips back.<br/></p><p>"Definitely Mom."</p><p>While he throws plenty of jabs along the way, by the time the video ends, Trudeau seems genuinely impressed.</p><p>"It's a great video... It's awesome!" he says.</p><p>Xav's first three singles are available to stream on platforms like Apple Music, Spotify and other major platforms. </p><p><br/></p>
