What is postpartum depression?
50-75% of women experience a period of blue mood with the birth of a child, such as postpartum depression, crying easily, anxiety, difficulty concentrating, forgetfulness, sadness, insomnia, worrying too much about the baby, and this state only lasts for a short week, so it is easy to be ignored. Most of them can be improved quickly after adjustment. However, in about 10% of cases, the condition becomes intense and lasts for more than two weeks without significant improvement and is attributed to a disease called “postpartum depression”.
Despite the high incidence of these disorders, they do not receive enough attention, and postpartum depression is unpredictable and often severely destructive. If left untreated, it can affect family relationships and reduce quality of life in mild cases, or be life-threatening. In severe cases, it lasts for several years without healing.
Symptoms of postpartum depression
Depression is a psychological disorder caused by the dysfunction of neurotransmitter systems such as pentraxin and norepinephrine in the brain. It is characterized by low mood, lack of interest or pleasure, persistent fatigue, low motivation for life, and is often accompanied by psychosomatic symptoms such as nervousness, insomnia, early awakening, weight loss, and peripheral discomfort. The main symptoms are as follows.
1. persistent sadness, anxiety or “emptiness”.
2. Difficulty in thinking, concentration and decision making.
3. Change in appetite; weight loss or gain.
4. More or less sleep than usual.
5. Significantly slower or more restless physical or verbal responses (feeling slowed down or fidgety).
6. a feeling of guilt, worthlessness or helplessness
7. lack of energy or feeling tired all the time.
8. thoughts of suicide.
9. loss of interest or feeling of pleasure in previously enjoyed hobbies or activities, including sexuality.
Xiao Li just had a baby, the whole family is happy, but she herself is not happy. At first the family thought she had not recovered physically, so she was in a bad mood and did not pay much attention. Out of the full moon she was still unhappy. The original love to talk and laugh, she is sullen all day, see the child also indifferent, often with tears in their eyes dull, to take care of her mother-in-law made the spirit very nervous, afraid of treating her what. One day, the family found the scissors hidden under the pillow, she said she did not want to live. The family was shocked and rushed to take her to the hospital to find out that she had postpartum depression.
Why is postpartum depression said to be a hurdle in a woman’s life?
Due to the huge changes in the physiological functions of women’s bodies after childbirth and other factors, most women have a transient “dysphoria” or “blue mood” after childbirth; some women will have more serious postpartum depression, postpartum anxiety disorder and Postpartum psychosis. We hope that society will pay attention to and care for new mothers.
After delivery and up to one year after delivery, women will be affected by many factors, including hormonal fluctuations in the body, psychological influences and social and environmental factors. It is most obvious in the 3 months after delivery, which is a period of special susceptibility. It is not an exaggeration to say that in today’s society postpartum mood and anxiety disorders are the greatest complication after childbirth.
How is postpartum depression treated? How to detect it early?
Depression is a common condition that, like hypertension and stomach ulcers, reflects some abnormal function of the body. It shows a mood disorder, so it is often neglected and misunderstood as a problem of the mind, or even blamed by family members for the decline of social functions of life, such as laziness, inability to do housework, and lack of interest in managing children. Depression is not terrible, and as long as it receives timely and proper treatment, it will recover quickly. Many antidepressants are very effective and can treat the root cause of depression. It usually takes 3 to 4 weeks for antidepressants to work. A complete cure sometimes takes three months or more. During this time, the comfort and support of people around them is very much needed. The family, the organization and the society should give them more attention and tolerance and, if necessary, persuade them to come to the psychological clinic.
Early detection is very important. In daily life, the family members of the mother should pay attention to the emotional changes of the mother, and the following symptoms should be diagnosed in time with the help of obstetricians and psychiatrists, such as “emotional tension”, “living in a struggle, suffering through time “, “feeling sad”, “falling into darkness”, “life is full of dark clouds”, ” exhaustion”, “feeling numb” or “hypersensitive”, “loss of appetite”, “decreased sex drive “, “sleepless nights”, “loss of interest or loss of interest”, “frequent suicidal thoughts”, etc.
Severe postpartum depression can lead to common clinical depression. There is no significant difference between the two, but the depression is always dominated by matters concerning the newborn or the husband. They show: fear that they will have an accident; obsessive worry about the newborn; fear to approach the baby; loss of confidence in parenting; thoughts of wrestling or killing the baby (occasional incidents of wrestling or killing the baby); and even attempts to commit suicide; extreme examples include killing the baby and then committing suicide.
Does postpartum depression affect the child?
Postpartum depression can cause disruptions in the mother-infant connection. The mother-infant bond is the emotional bond between mother and baby and depends on a number of factors, including physical contact between mother and baby, the baby’s behavior and the mother’s emotional responsiveness. Mothers with postpartum depression are reluctant to hold their infants or are unable to feed them effectively and observe whether they are warm or not; they do not pay attention to the infant’s reactions, and the infant’s cries or difficulty feeding do not get the mother’s attention; the infant sometimes becomes unmanageable due to the mother’s abnormal touch; the mother and the infant do not get along well, and the mother tends to hold the child with her arms outstretched, does not witness the infant, ignores the infant’s signals of interaction, and considers the infant’s smile or giggle as a change of breath rather than a change of breath. Laughing is seen as a change of breath rather than as an indication of social interaction; aversion to children or fear of contact with them.
Adverse effects on early infants This effect can cause behavioral difficulties in the first 3 months of life, with infants being more nervous, less content, more easily fatigued, and having poor motor development.
Effects on later infants (12 to 19 months) Studies have shown that maternal postpartum depression is associated with the infant’s cognitive abilities and the infant’s personality development. The severity of maternal postpartum depression was positively associated with poor mental and motor development of the infant.
Effects on early childhood (4 to 5 years) Mothers with depression in the first postpartum year have children with significantly lower ability and cognitive indices than children of healthy women.
Because of the adverse effects of postpartum depression on both mother and child, treatment for this disorder should be initiated as soon as the diagnosis is established. This will not only prevent the mother’s condition from worsening or even progressing to postpartum psychosis, but also enable the baby to feel the mother’s love and warmth as early as possible and grow up healthy and happy.
How to prevent postpartum depression at an early stage?
The various risk factors for postpartum depressive disorders often exist before the patient becomes pregnant, and in the vast majority of cases we can anticipate who will develop them after delivery.
Problems during pregnancy: stressful life during pregnancy, fears about the sex of the baby, housing conditions economic level, family atmosphere, etc. Happiness in marriage; lack of welfare protection; or negative events such as death of a family member, relatives moving away, moving to a new place, etc.
Problems during delivery: traumatic experience during delivery; early discharge from hospital; other complications after delivery, etc.
Hormones: During pregnancy, the female hormones estrogen and progesterone increase tenfold. After delivery, hormone levels decrease rapidly and return to pre-pregnancy levels within 72 hours. Some studies have linked the rapid decrease in hormone levels during the postpartum period to the onset of depressive symptoms.
Stress: First-time mothers are often unable to fully balance the demands of work and caring for a baby. The period after the birth of a child is often filled with excitement, but this can be followed by disappointment and then a feeling of being unable to meet the challenges of motherhood. Postpartum maladjustment, lack of sleep, overworked baby care, etc.
Pre-existing mood disorders: A history of previous depression increases a woman’s risk of developing postpartum depression. Studies show that 1/3 of women with a history of depression will relapse in the postpartum period. History of premenstrual syndrome
Personal qualities: First-time mothers with neurotic, immature, or obsessive-compulsive personalities, for example, are prone to the disorder.
Before marriage, Xiao Lin was a staunch Dinker, feeling that children were a burden, and agreed with her husband not to have children after marriage. In the first two years of marriage, the couple was happy and joyful. In the third year, both parents forced debt every day like urging to have children, and even suspected that the two have physical problems. Forced to get pregnant, there is a pregnancy reaction, eat and vomit, high blood pressure, mobility problems, Xiaolin really hate the child in the belly, very can not be born earlier to complete the task, it was easy to boil to the birth, not smooth, caesarean section, thought it was finally over, who knew that breastfeeding, unable to sleep at night, wound pain, noisy hospital environment, and then think about the growth of the child will need to pay a huge price, is really far away I was so upset that I didn’t think I could raise my child, and I was in such a bad mood that I was often in tears. At night, when I saw others sleeping, I wanted to die, but I was worried that the child without a mother would be bullied, so I took the child away with me. The family panicked and rushed to the hospital, but the culprit was “postpartum depression”.
For how to prevent and treat postpartum depression, the following methods are provided.
1, prenatal psycho-physiological health education is very important. Let the mother-to-be have enough psychological preparation to become a new mother. Accompanied by the husband to the prenatal clinic consultation, watch the video, fully understand the perinatal knowledge during pregnancy. It is also helpful to learn from experienced mothers. A good and peaceful family environment is good for the mental health of mothers.
2. Taking care of your brain during the period before and after birth is very important for the physical and emotional health of the mother. If you can ensure good sleep, nutrition and exercise at this time, it can help the brain to readjust and improve its ability to handle stressful stimuli.
3, once suffering from postpartum depression, do not be afraid. The treatment effect is still relatively good. At this time, mothers often need the support of family and society, especially the husband’s thoughtfulness, concern and understanding is very important, to timely enlighten and resolve the maternal anxiety problems, often have outdoor activities, more talk with relatives and friends, can soon be relieved from the depression situation.
4. If psychotherapy is ineffective and the symptoms are getting worse, medication is needed to help the brain to readjust its biochemical structure. It takes 3-4 weeks for antidepressants to work, and during this time, the comfort and support of people around you is very much needed. In today’s society, we seem to have become accustomed to the “quick fix” approach to problems, however, these drugs must build up in the body to a certain level before they can work. In this regard, the patient needs to have enough trust in the doctor, have enough patience and confidence in the treatment.
5, do not avoid the disease. I met a patient in the clinic, postpartum depression. The in-laws did not think it was a disease and thought it was a shame to treat it, so they obstructed it. The patient was quietly treated in the hospital by her mother’s family every time she visited the clinic on the pretext of picking her up and going shopping. I hope that the society and families will show more love and understanding to the patients, have less misunderstanding, treat the disease scientifically and help the patients to get rid of depression and regain a happy life as soon as possible.
May all mothers be physically and mentally healthy! May all families be full of joy!