Two years ago, after the birth of her son Alec, Stacy Alese found herself overcome by depression.

	Robin Rombach, Post-Gazette Stacy Alese enjoys playing outside in the sandbox with her 2-year-old son, Alec, at their home in the East Oakmont section of Plum. Stacy suffered with postpartum depression after his birth. Click photo for larger image.

The normally energetic, successful business owner felt so paralyzed by despair that she sometimes was reluctant to leave her house, or even take a shower or brush her teeth.

"It was a horrible time," said Mrs. Alese, 35, of the East Oakmont section of Plum. She eventually recovered after receiving medical treatment for postpartum depression.

She and her husband, Gene, will be among the speakers this week at a three-day conference aimed at improving the treatment of depression for women, who are far more likely than men to develop the illness.

"Depression Care for Women Across the Life Span: Who's In Charge of Women's Health?" begins tomorrow at the Sheraton Station Square.

Among several dozen speakers are former New Jersey Gov. Richard Codey and his wife, Mary Jo, who also suffered from postpartum depression; Dr. Alberto Colombi, corporate medical director for PPG Industries; U.S. Rep. Tim Murphy, R-Upper St. Clair; Dr. Harold Pincus, a former psychiatrist at Pitt who now directs quality and outcomes research at New York-Presbyterian Hospital, and Dr. Suzanne Vogel-Scibilia, a Beaver County psychiatrist and president of the National Alliance on Mental Illness.

The conference is open to the public and includes a seminar tomorrow afternoon for the business community on promoting women's health in the workplace. It also offers continuing education credits to medical professionals and includes a Saturday workshop on treating postpartum depression.

Also featured is a display of photographs of women with mental illness by Charlee Brodsky, a professor of photography at Carnegie Mellon University.

The conference is "really a Pittsburgh community and academic partnership," said Dr. Katherine Wisner, the conference director and a professor of psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

Sponsors include LEAD Pittsburgh, a local nonprofit that seeks to make the diagnosis and treatment of depression a higher priority; the Pitt medical school's Center for Continuing Education in the Health Sciences; Women's Behavioral HealthCARE of the Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic; Magee-Womens Hospital; Allegheny General Hospital's department of obstetrics and gynecology; and Healthy Start Inc. of Pittsburgh/Allegheny County and Fayette County.

About 20.9 million American adults -- 9.5 percent of the population -- have mood disorders that include major depression, chronic mild depression and bipolar disorder, according to the National Institutes of Health. From puberty through menopause, women are about twice as likely as men to develop depression.

Hormonal changes among women are believed to play a role along with other factors, including the combination of work and family responsibilities, lower incomes compared to men, and a greater likelihood of sexual abuse or physical abuse.

The conference will address a range of issues related to depression in women.

Tomorrow's session will include a discussion of actor Tom Cruise's critical comments, aired last year on NBC-TV's "Today" show, about Brooke Shields' use of antidepressants to treat her postpartum depression. During the business seminar, Dr. Pincus will address the cost of depression to businesses, and Dr. Colombi will discuss advocating for depression treatment.

Friday's sessions will address depression and related issues throughout the life cycle, including mental health problems that can arise during puberty; premenstrual dysphoric disorder, a severe form of premenstrual syndrome; and depression that occurs around the time of childbirth or menopause.

On Saturday, Dr. Vogel-Scibilia, who has bipolar disorder, will discuss living with the illness. Other speakers will comment on drug therapies for depression and a local effort to help low-income women with postpartum depression develop coping skills through use of dialectical behavior therapy. A separate session targeted to medical professionals will focus on postpartum depression treatment.

Stacy and Gene Alese will appear at that session and also at tomorrow's session.

Mrs. Alese said she never experienced depression early in life or after the birth of her older son, Dominic, now 7. But symptoms surfaced a few weeks after Alec was born in late September 2004.

She had spells of crying and a sense of helplessness and despair.

Her husband, busy with out-of-town business trips and working with the company they founded, Oakmont Candle Co., did not immediately notice, she said. But after two months passed and she didn't improve, her husband and friends encouraged her to seek treatment.

She refused to consider inpatient psychiatric care and had trouble, at first, finding other medical help. But early last year, she began receiving counseling and treatment from a physician friend whose wife had experienced postpartum depression.

Gradually, she improved, and she and her husband are raising funds to help other women with postpartum depression. Donations can be sent to Oakmont Candle Co., 329 Pennsylvania Ave., Oakmont, PA 15139.

Mrs. Alese said she felt compelled to speak out about the disorder to let other women "know they're not alone."

She said that when she mentions that she was once depressed, other mothers tell her, "I was, too, but I didn't want to say anything."

Women need to know, Mrs. Alese said, "that it's OK to say, `I can't do it all. I need help.' "

"Depression Care for Women Across the Life Span" begins tomorrow at 9 a.m. Walk-in registration is available each day of the conference. Fees range from $175-$300 for physicians and $25-$100 for other health professionals and the public. More information is available by visiting www.wpic.pitt.edu/oerp or by contacting Maria Pena-Jordan at penajordanmi@upmc.edu or 412-802-6917.