People magazine recently featured Utah dad Eric Dyches for its ongoing hero series.
Dyches, who hails from Salem, recently made headlines for starting a foundation to help women who suffer from postpartum depression.
Dyches started this project, called The Emily Effect, after his wife, Emily Cook Dyches, walked into the path of a semi-truck after suffering from postpartum depression — something that affects 1 in 7 women, according to NPR — following the birth of the Dycheses' child, Trey.
Dyches said he hoped to dedicate his life to make sure that other women don’t suffer the same fate. He, along with volunteers, focus “on directing women to resources, including therapists specializing in postpartum issues, and doing away with the stigma associated with mental disorders,” according to People magazine.
Dyches told People magazine that his experiences with his wife have prepared him to take on the challenges that The Emily Effect presents him.
"When Emily first started having anxiety and depression, it was maddening trying to find the right help," he said. "There were many times when I felt like we'd exhausted our options and didn't have anywhere else to turn.
"Then there was the feeling of 'self shaming' that Emily had to deal with," he told People. "It was that feeling of, 'We can't see it, so it must not be true.' She felt like she was the only one going through this, because all of the other moms she saw were putting their best foot forward. She felt incredibly alone."
You can read more about Dyches' story at People magazine.
Our own Candice Madsen and Sam Penrod wrote about The Emily Effect in May of this year. Eric Dyches told the Deseret News that he hoped his new foundation would help change the way people view postpartum depression and the effect it has on women.
"I was caught up in the beginning of making certain everybody knew that Emily did not choose to take her own life, but at this point it doesn’t matter,” Eric Dyches told the Deseret News. “We want to end the stigma associated with suicide, mental illness and debilitating mood disorders.”
You can find out more at the company’s website.
Herb Scribner is a writer for Deseret Digital Media.