Postpartum Depression
Recognizing the Symptoms
It's very common for women to feel confused about the different types of Postpartum Reactions. They usually hear about Postpartum Depression (PPD), and think that it only encompasses feeling sad, tired, hopeless, and blue. Well, PPD is much more complex than that, and comes in different levels of severity, therefore the name Postpartum Mood Disorders is used to describe the cluster of reactions some women experience postpartum, some even prior to giving birth.
The Different Colors of Postpartum Reactions
The Baby Blues
- Affects 8 out of 10 mothers
- Mild emotional reaction caused by the sudden drop in hormones postpartum
- Symptoms include: irritability, tearfulness, exhaustion, sadness, anxiety
- Time line: starts in the first 3 days postpartum and can last up to 3 or 4 weeks
Postpartum Depression
- Affects 1 out of 8 women
- Symptoms include: exhaustion, tearfulness, despondency, sleeping and/or eating problems, feelings of worthlessness, loneliness or isolation, frightening thoughts or fantasies, feeling detached from the baby
- Time line: Symptoms can appear any time during the first year postpartum, in some cases even later, and respond well to treatment
Postpartum Anxiety
Anxiety symptoms are very common during pregnancy and after giving birth, and can be present alone or along with depression.
Types of Postpartum Anxiety Disorders
Postpartum Panic Disorder
- Affects 1 out of 50 women
- Symptoms: excessive worry or nervousness, heart palpitations, shortness of breath, hot or cold flashes, chest pains, shaking, dizziness, fear of losing control or going crazy
- Time line: First year postpartum, sometimes even later
Postpartum Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
- Affects 1 out of 50 women
- Symptoms: repetitive and unwanted thoughts or behaviors (including thoughts of harming the baby, or harm coming to the baby), and avoiding the baby in order to cope with the associated disturbing feelings. Thoughts are ego-dystonic (repulse the woman).
- Time line: First year postpartum, sometimes later
Postpartum GAD (Generalized Anxiety Disorder)
- Affects 1 out of 50 women
- Symptoms: uncontrollable worriness, fear that she will accidentally make baby sick or die due to contamination, that baby may be harmed if she is not hypervigilant about details, that stress levels during pregnancy may have hurt the baby in utero, that the slightest physical symptom may mean that baby is deathly ill.
- Time line: First year postpartum, sometimes later
Postpartum PTSD (Posttraumatic Stress Disorder)
- Strong feelings following an unusual, often times stressful, pregnancy or birth experience. Can be both physically and emotionally overwhelming.
- Symptoms work as an attempt to deal with the catastrophic feelings.
- Common Symptoms: hypersensitivity, flashbacks, irritability, withdrawal, avoidance, depression and anxiety, lack of concentration
Postpartum Bipolar Disorder
- Women who have Bipolar Disorders and take medication, have a 50% rate of relapse if they discontinue their medication during pregnancy. The pregnancy and postpartum period is a time of heightened vulnerability for these women. Bipolar Disorder is closely related to Postpartum Psychosis.
- Symptoms: depression that is resistant to therapy, mood swings, poor response to antidepressants, irritability, rage, anxiety, risky behaviors.
- 1 out of 50 Bipolar women may develop Postpartum Psychosis
- Hypomanic phase happens immediately after birth with severe depression several weeks later (Bipolar II)
Postpartum Psychosis
- Very rare disorder, affecting 1 out of 1,000 women
- Symptoms: extreme confusion, disorientation, irrational and incoherent statements, thoughts of harming self or the baby based on delusional thinking – thoughts are ego syntonic (woman does not see anything wrong with her thoughts), hallucinations, agitation or hyperactivity, loses touch with reality.
- Time line: 3 to 14 days after giving birth
- This is a very serious medical condition and requires immediate help.
