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Nearly 80% of women who have just given birth find themselves having a case of the “baby blues.” This is characterized by apprehension or anxiety associated with the new responsibilities of being a mom, along with a mild feeling of sadness or the “blue feeling.” This usually lasts anywhere from a few days to a few weeks after the delivery, and subsides just as effortlessly as it began.
For some women, however, the feelings of sadness and anxiety are more intense and don’t just go away. Here begins the line that separates the normal reactions associated with a new baby, and postpartum depression (PPD).
About 10-15% of women suffer from true PPD. These women experience symptoms such as anxiety, irritability, insomnia, feelings of guilt, difficulty concentrating, persistent crying and overall sadness. These usually surface within the first six weeks and on an average last from three to six months.
It is thought that hormonal changes play a major role in both baby blues and PPD. After delivery, hormone levels drop rapidly and can affect a woman’s moods. This, in association with the fatigue from giving birth and the lack of sleep most experience early on in a baby’s life, can alter a new mom’s state of mind a great deal.
A mother suffering from PPD will perpetuate her own symptoms of depression by not taking advantage of the opportunities she gets to escape the stresses of new parenthood. She will worry excessively which increases anxiety and adds to the exhaustion already felt because of the existing insomnia she is most likely experiencing.
There are also some factors that are thought to add to the risk of a woman suffering from PPD, these are: marital problems, depression or anxiety during pregnancy, lack of support from family and friends, stress, previous PPD or mood disorder, and severe PMS.
Identifying the risk factors of PPD and the ability to recognize that something is wrong are two ways for a new mother to address the problem before it becomes debilitating. Treatment for PPD is actually quite simple. A mixture of professional counseling and medication seems to have been the most effective. In extreme cases where the mother’s symptoms are so severe that she is posing a threat to herself or her baby, she may be hospitalized until the condition is stabilized. This, however, is rarely necessary. The most commonly prescribed medications are Paxil, Zoloft, and Prozac, all of which are antidepressants that have proved to have very successful results in most who take them. Often these drugs are used in conjunction with anti-anxiety medication to bring the symptoms to a manageable level. Group therapy can also be a very comforting and effective means of treatment as well. Most important though, is a base of encouraging love and support from the family and friends closest to the mom, that lasts throughout the six to eight months needed to make a full recovery.
With education, PPD can be easily recognized and treated. The key for a new mother is realizing that she is not alone, that there is help and that being a parent isn’t supposed to be a life of suffering, but rather a new and exciting life experience.
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