Postpartum depression if not treated can turn to postpartum psychosis where a mother can harm the baby!

Postpartum psychosis is a severe mental illness that could make the mother physically harm the baby.

By: Debjani Arora | | Published: May 18, 2018 6:18 pm

A mother’s well-being after childbirth is very crucial as there are a lot of factors that depend on it – mother-baby bonding, infantile health, maternal health and much more. But after a baby’s arrival as the entire universe becomes busy showering love and affection on the baby many forget that the mother too needs some care, warmth and help. It is a widely accepted fact that motherhood equips the mother to endure everything that it brings with it. But the harsh reality is that the days following childbirth are the most challenging ones. Instead of being all happy and gay she goes on an emotional rollercoaster ride. Depression after childbirth is quite common in new mothers. It is usually termed as postpartum depression the symptoms of which are quite similar to depression. However, sometimes the mother needs help to come out of postpartum depression and other times the problem settles on its own. Read this to know how long postpartum depression lasts.

However, if the symptoms of postpartum depression are too severe and the mother is facing a trouble handling the turmoil of emotions that is wrecking havoc within her and it is not addressed properly, it could turn to postpartum psychosis. Read to know what is difference between postpartum depression and postpartum blues?

‘Postpartum psychosis is a severe mental illness that could make the mother physically harm the baby. Unlike postpartum depression, which is basically the baby blues or mood swings, that a new mother tends to face a few days after the birth of her baby, postpartum psychosis is more severe, it is often characterized similarly to bipolar disorder. It is also very dynamic in nature, as a mother can go from feeling depressed to completely frenzied in just one hour and can harm the baby, so it is important to those near and dear to seek medical help as soon as they notice the following symptoms manifesting in the mother,’ says Shamantha K, Counselling Psychologist, Fortis Hospital, Cunningham Road, Bangalore.

The symptoms

Here are few of the symptoms of postpartum psychosis that you should know:

Ecstatic/euphoric (mania), or downright low and anxious (depression)
Delusions (convinced of something that has not happened, in other words, a false fixed belief. For example A mother believing that her child is possessed by an evil spirit)
Hallucination or sensory experience of things that aren’t actually present
Insomnia
Severe confusion
Behavioural change in character
Restlessness, paranoia
Loss of inhibitions

‘New mothers may not be well aware of the symptoms present, but the close family members or caretakers should be on the lookout. Keep in mind that all or some of these symptoms may be present, which only the spouse or a close relative may recognize. Seek help at the earliest,’ says Dr Shamantha K. Read seven facts about postpartum depression that nobody speaks about.

The causes

‘In most cases, postpartum psychosis occurs a few days after the birth of the child. There’s no proper way to get to the root cause of this yet, some doctors say the rapid shift of hormones could be the reason, although it’s just speculative. Occurrence ration is said to be 1:1000 women who have a baby,’ says Shamantha K.

When to seek help

‘However, the likelihood of a woman experiencing postpartum psychosis is much higher if she has had a history of being diagnosed with a bipolar or schizoaffective disorder. If you’ve a mother or sisters who suffer from the same, it is imperative that you check with a psychiatrist immediately, as your chances of going through the same are doubled. Which means it could be running in the genes.

‘You can check in with the psychiatrist before the birth, and based on your condition, you will be prescribed certain medication to keep your levels in check. Also, everyone, including your nurse, the Obstetrician gynaecologist and mental health team should be available to help you make a detailed plan on how to take care of this from your end post the pregnancy. Besides medications, there are some trigger factors like sleep deprivation, so ideally a map can be charted out that can give the spouse some alone time with the child so the mother can have undisrupted sleep,’ says Shamantha K.

Image source: Shutterstock

Published: May 18, 2018 6:18 pm

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