The article will discuss the causes of the pathological state of a woman after the birth of a child, how to cope with postpartum depression as soon as possible and without prejudice to her health. Postpartum depression is a dangerous process that can significantly affect the psyche of a young mother. Some people consider this phenomenon solely a whim of a woman who recently gave birth. However, this is far from the case, therefore, one should understand the causes of the resulting pathology.
Risk factors for postpartum depression
Few people know that there are women who are prone to depression after childbirth. They are initially included in the register of persons capable of losing their taste for life for a very long period of time after the birth of even a long-awaited baby.
The mechanism for triggering such a problem lies in the following features of the psyche of a problem personality:
- Pre-pregnancy and childbirth chronic depression factor … It's no secret that cheerful laughter is encountered less and less often. Life dictates its own rules to everyone, which are sometimes very strict. Daily problems can turn an active optimist into a depressed person fixated on evil rock, therefore, such women, already preparing to become a mother, should be aware of the risk of postpartum mental pathology in them.
- The Conscious Decision to Become a Single Mother … To give birth to yourself is wonderful if you have a stable psyche and the prospects to support the child yourself. Otherwise, the woman automatically enters the risk zone of becoming a depressed mother immediately after childbirth. To do it or not is purely her choice, but responsible representatives of the fair sex should think it over before making such a decision.
- Contraindication of doctors regarding the alleged pregnancy … In this case, healthy women have nothing to fear, but there are also such expectant mothers who take great risks by agreeing to carry a child. The difficult course of pregnancy in such women in an interesting position can end in postpartum depression.
- Women with established bad habits … Only prudes constantly argue that it is very easy to overcome addictions in a short period of time. However, if you have a long history of smoking or occasional intake of strong drinks, then it is difficult to give up the previously dubious pleasures of life. Therefore, there is a risk that the expectant mother will find herself in a situation of postpartum depression due to the forced abandonment of bad habits during breastfeeding. In case of drug use, the conversation is short: it is categorically impossible to give birth to such women!
Note! All these factors are not dogma in terms of the possible onset of mental disorder in a woman who gave birth. Each case in this matter is individual, so it all depends on the many accompanying reasons for the appearance of postpartum depression in a new mother.
The main symptoms of postpartum depression in women
Recognizing someone who is depressed is easy. However, some skeptics do not understand how a happy mother becomes a victim of mental breakdown immediately after the birth of her baby. The following symptoms of postpartum depression can help you identify a woman who is trapped in a vicious cycle of sadness and despair:
- Despondency always and under all circumstances … Such mothers cannot smile, not because they are lazy, but because they simply do not want to do it. Even in the most excellent weather, a charming toddler nearby and a husband, who is melancholy from paternity, women are unhappy with everything. They are annoyed by happy people who have the courage to get into the field of view of a sad person.
- Excessive melancholy … After the birth of a child, a sentimental person can cry over a sentimental melodrama. She is not even forbidden to watch Indian films that bring tears out of susceptible people. However, tearfulness about and without this after the birth of a wonderful baby is definitely an alarming signal of a possible postpartum depression.
- Frequent complaints of headaches after childbirth … In this case, the saying "migraine - lazy to work" is clearly inappropriate. Not all children quietly murmur in their cradle, giving mom the opportunity to sleep for an extra hour. Usually, newborns love to scream at any time convenient for them. To be more precise in their conclusions, they always do something like that. All this makes a woman irritable, because due to constant stress, migraines often come to her.
- Sleep problems … Oddly enough it sounds, but an extra hour of sleep, which was announced earlier, is not available to the woman who gave birth. There are such happy individuals who can fall asleep anywhere and in a standing position, when their adored baby stops tormenting the whole family with loud crying. However, it also happens that the long-awaited moment of calm turns into the inability of the mother to fall asleep or even simply indulge in a state of slumber. The described women are easy to identify, because the blue under the dull eyes betrays them. Postpartum depression is a punishment that overtakes mothers of a similar mentality.
- Low self-esteem as a mother … In this case, the most incredible and shocking details of their motherhood can be heard from these women. They can shout at a kid who is raging in hysterics and immediately start crying from what they have done. All this can be the cause of both temporary fatigue and the onset of prolonged postpartum depression.
- Thoughts about the frailty of existence … In principle, any person thinks about the mysteries of the universe and its cause-and-effect relationships. In simpler terms, all of us were visited by thoughts about the inevitable death in the future. It should be noted that this is a completely normal phenomenon for an adequate person who simply knows how to analyze future prospects. However, in the case of a young mother constantly thinking about death, we are dealing with a very dangerous manifestation of postpartum depression.
- Loss of appetite or complete refusal to eat … Diet is a good thing for cleansing the body of toxins or in the case of putting your figure in order. All this is permissible after childbirth, but in no case should you experiment with something like a nursing mother. A woman who, when she has a child, begins to flatly refuse food - an alarming signal for her entire family. In this case, either problems with the gastrointestinal tract or postpartum depression may begin.
- The appearance of increased aggressiveness … Even the cutest person after the birth of a child can turn into a fury with certain changes in her psychological state. In some cases, you should not be intimidated by this phenomenon, because what is happening is often a fleeting process. It is more difficult when a woman is aggressive after childbirth, which dragged on for a long time and is not typical for her character.
- Progressive feeling of anxiety … Such ladies are worried about literally everything, from the state of health of the child to the instability in the global economy. Waking up every morning, such women are filled with dark forebodings of impending disaster. Even if the expected does not happen, they are able to think up other terrible events in their lives.
Important! Psychologists advise not to ignore all these alarming symptoms when it comes to loved ones. The husband needs to be engaged not only in actively making money (which is also good), but also to pay more attention to the psychological state of his recently given birth wife.
Causes of Prolonged Postpartum Depression
In addition to the initial risk factors for the appearance of the described pathology, one should also remember about other dangerous sources of mental imbalance in a woman's body after adding to the family. Psychologists define the causes of postpartum depression as follows:
- Family financial instability … Only a hypocritical person will argue that money is not happiness. Naturally, you should not make a cult out of them, but stable financial well-being has not prevented anyone yet. Poverty is the lot of ascetics who deliberately chose a similar life path. A woman with a newborn child in her arms falls into persistent depression due to the lack of the most elementary family for a decent existence. In this case, she needs to think not only about herself, but also about the baby with rather big needs.
- Misunderstanding on the part of loved ones … Very often, the husband considers the depressed state of his recently given birth wife to be a momentary whim or an outright whim. In a conflict situation that has arisen, a mother-in-law can escalate the situation to the limit, talking about how she once coped with a newborn without straining. All this will lead to such a deplorable fact as prolonged postpartum depression in the mother of the baby.
- Severe pregnancy or abnormal labor … Only masochists like to suffer, because it is their daily bread. Everyone else is categorically not satisfied with this fact, because it causes a rather aggressive response from the body. A woman can enter a state of deep postpartum depression if she experienced anguish at the birth of a child or her entire pregnancy was a continuous strip of unpleasant and painful sensations.
- Chronic fatigue … Motherhood is what makes the vast majority of women happy. However, it is accompanied by sleepless nights, walking around the apartment with the look of a somnambulist and a delightful process according to the system "feeding - changing a diaper - feeding - washing baby clothes …". The list is endless, because at the same time no one relieved the exhausted woman from the responsibilities of housekeeping. No one denies that sometimes it is simply necessary to take a break from the adored child. And since most of the grandmothers work, and there is not enough money for a nanny, the mother is forced to belong to the child around the clock, take care of her husband, cook and clean. Lack of male help is a common cause of the onset of depression.
- Isolation from society … It could be argued, of course, that all women are happy to discuss the quality of new diapers and the benefits of breastfeeding with other mothers. This is all good, but often they really want to communicate with the team in which they previously worked. And the banal going out with friends is often not enough for peace of mind. This can be problematic, so women after childbirth begin to plunge into a state of depression.
- Fear of losing professional skills and jobs … The question of how long postpartum depression lasts is difficult to answer unequivocally. However, we can safely say that the fear of the woman giving birth to ruin her career can lead to it. The world is full of purposeful people who will go over their heads to achieve their goals. Consequently, the time of the decree can nullify all the previous achievements of the woman. The result is postpartum depression in its most aggressive form.
- Stressful situation after childbirth … Fate often dictates its terms to us, which in most cases do not coincide with our plans. After the birth of a child, a woman may lose a loved one, find herself in a difficult financial situation, or become a victim of betrayal of her husband or friends. All this will lead to the fact that she will begin a deep introspection of her life, which can trigger the mechanism of postpartum depression.
- The birth of a sick child … It is difficult to talk about this situation, because no one is immune from this. There are cases when a “special” baby is born in an absolutely healthy married couple. Some of the mothers immediately engage in battle with a terrible (sometimes deadly) enemy, and some simply enter a state of stupor and postpartum depression. It is difficult to survive this, but to accept it is almost unrealistic.
- Separation of mom and baby … It would seem that such an inextricable bond cannot be broken in a society of adequately thinking people. However, sometimes fate presents us with extremely unpleasant surprises. In this case, a negligent spouse, who was given resignation, can steal the newborn. A child can be kidnapped for the purpose of selling, because a living product, no matter how scary it sounds, will always be in some demand.
- Consequences of a cesarean section … Some women insist on this procedure because they are afraid of the upcoming pain. However, natural childbirth is the most favorable outcome for the birth of a baby. After a cesarean section, many mothers begin to feel guilty for the fact that at the moment of birth they did not immediately press their baby to the heart due to the effect of anesthesia on them. Everyone in such a situation reacts differently, but there are still cases of postpartum depression after the operation.
- Husband refusal from partner childbirth … Some women are so afraid of the upcoming event that they insist that their loved one be present. However, they forget that not every man is able to endure the spectacle of his woman's suffering. The expectant mother considers this a betrayal and, after being resolved from the burden, withdraws into herself, fencing herself off from others.
- Loss of female attractiveness … For some reason, this issue is given too little attention, but it is a rather serious reason for the occurrence of postpartum depression. The once-chiseled figurine will not take on its former forms for a long time after giving birth, which introduces many of the fair sex into a state of panic. All this can end in psychosis, which will have to be treated by a competent specialist.
- Stillbirth … Unfortunately, in some cases, a child is born dead or a mother is forced to have an abortion due to a threat to her health. In this situation, postpartum depression is a normal phenomenon, a kind of protective reaction of the body to enormous stress. However, with a protracted course, it requires the immediate intervention of relatives and friends, since this is one of the most difficult cases with which a woman is not always able to cope on her own.
Very important! All of these factors can unsettle even the most adequate mother, so you should not judge her for the resulting postpartum depression. It is necessary to offer her help and support, otherwise the consequences will be extremely serious.
Treatment for postpartum depression
From the foregoing, we can conclude that this phenomenon requires immediate correction. Treatment for postpartum depression involves a variety of ways to deal with mental illness.
Psychological Tips for Eliminating Postpartum Depression
Psychology is a science that often allows you to understand the causes of a problem in women who have recently given birth and helps to eliminate these consequences. Sometimes you should heed the advice of experts in order to end the blues forever and start a new path to enjoying motherhood.
Psychotherapists give the following recommendations on how to get rid of postpartum depression:
- Chatting with other new moms … Let this not replace the active lifestyle that was before childbirth, but it will help to distract from problems. Nothing brings women together like the opportunity to gossip, discuss husbands and boast about their brilliant children who are gaining weight well. Ideally, you should ask experienced mothers for advice, who inspire confidence by having well-groomed and well-bred children.
- Walks in the open air … It is very convenient to enjoy postpartum depression within four walls, while feeling sorry for yourself with terrible force. However, the child needs walks, which also will not interfere with the mother who is starting to mope. Sometimes even a breath of a light breeze and a blooming flower seen can bring significant aesthetic pleasure to a woman.
- Self-hypnosis … The ideal family is an option for the sentimental melodramas that are so rich in cinema. You can't keep up everywhere with a baby in your arms. Therefore, the thought that with the birth of a baby a woman becomes a bad wife should be discarded. A sane husband will not only understand everything that is happening to his beloved, who gave him a child, but will also help her in all everyday matters.
- Antidepressant treatment … In this case, you should clearly understand for yourself that self-administration of such drugs is strictly prohibited. The danger of self-medication is that a nursing mother can harm her baby with such manipulations. A woman who does not breastfeed can achieve the exact opposite result if antidepressants are incorrectly introduced into the body. Only a competent specialist, after a thorough examination of the state of a woman in depression after childbirth, will be able to coordinate the correct treatment.
- Prevention with "products of joy" … In this case, we are talking about the use of what was previously pleasing to both the eye and the stomach. The restriction applies only to nursing mothers, who need to carefully monitor their diet so as not to harm the baby. However, at the same time, they are not forbidden to listen to meditation music or eat (as an exception) such a coveted bun.
Traditional medicine in the fight against postpartum depression
Traditional medicine often amazes us with its creative ways of dealing with many ailments. She gives good advice on how to deal with postpartum depression as follows:
- Drinking soothing teas … First of all, you should check yourself for the absence of a possible allergic reaction before taking such herbal infusions. Some of them (the same fennel) can not only calm a woman, but also significantly improve her lactation. With all these undoubted advantages, one should consult a doctor before such manipulations in order to avoid negative consequences for both the mother and the child.
- Application of tonic baths … If there are no contraindications in terms of such a procedure, then it will be an excellent way to deal with postpartum depression. Black poplar is a proven way to get rid of depression at least temporarily. At the same time, young dried leaves of this tree are steamed and added to the bath prepared for water procedures. Poplar buds, which are already swollen, will also help a tired woman in a state of depression relax. To do this, you need to take one hundred grams of raw materials and boil it in one liter of water.
How to get rid of postpartum depression - watch the video:
Postpartum depression is a difficult and dangerous process for every woman. However, it is possible and necessary to cope with it with the right approach to the problem and in the circle of loving people. In the opposite case, the most negative consequences are possible, up to causing harm to oneself and the born child.
