Interesting Article About Postpartum Depression.... ?
Postpartum depression and psychosis have been in the news since Andrea Yates
of Houston was charged with killing her five children last year by drowning
them in the family bathtub.
Doctors estimate that nearly 65 percent of all women who have given birth
suffer some sort of depression. But only in 1 percent of cases does the
depression give way to the type of psychosis that Yates said drove her to
harm her children.
A Bay County woman named Sheryl (not her real name) said she was one who
went through the baby blues. She said she experienced a range of feelings
after the birth of her son, which was not a planned pregnancy. One day she
was fine, and the next day depression would hit her.
I came in to work one day and, out of the blue, I just cried all day long,"
she said. "I could not figure out what was wrong as it was so unlike me. So
I went to one of my co-workers, and she told me to call my doctor. He was
very concerned, and he made me an appointment with a psychiatrist, and that
is how I found out I was going through postpartum depression.
All of us suffer from depression, which is when we get a little bit sad,"
Gibson said. "That is normal and is temporary and is nothing other than
mildly discomforting. Depression in mental illness always impairs function
and is literally life-threatening
This disorder occurs following the birth of a child and generally is
brought on by hormonal changes, which triggers the mood disorder," she said.
"Depression also does tend to run in families. And there are certain risk
factors."
Patients with postpartum depression seem to respond to the class of drugs
that are known as seratonin re-uptake inhibitors (SSRI)," she said. "Clearly
there is something chemical going on or the person would not respond
positively to that type of intervention
I am a normal person who could not understand why I was going through this
depression," Sheryl said. "I have had people on my side of the family say,
'Why are you taking those drugs? You don't need to take this medication.' I
have told them I have to take this medication and that I don't have a
choice.