Dear Dr. Touchstone, This weekend I was reading The NY Times and I came across an article titled, Can Fathers Have Postpartum Depression, by Douglas Quenqua. In it, the author discusses that new fathers experience postpartum depression in a different way compared to new mothers. He states that even though new mothers are more likely to have postpartum depression than new fathers, new mothers tend to get more and better help than new fathers. The society creates a stigma that men do not get depressed which causes men less likely to confront the postpartum depression. Postpartum depression is a result of low levels in testosterone as well as fluctuations in other hormones like estradiol and prolactin in men.…
Symptoms of peri-natal depression include sleep disturbances,changes in appetite, mood changes, and difficulty concentrating. There are many risks associated with untreated depression during pregnancy. They include preterm labor, growth retardation, decreased prenatal care, poor weight gain, and increased substance use. Depression during pregnancy is very common, but also under diagnosed because women feel they should be joyous since they are having a baby. Depression is very different from the "baby blues," which is very common after the baby is born.…
On the other hand, some women do not begin to experience Postpartum Depression until up to a year after they have given birth. At the very beginning of the story, the patient says, "...there is nothing the matter with one but temporary nervous depression—a slight hysterical tendency—what does one do" (Gilman 1). This particular quote is important because it is explaining that the patient has come to the realization that she is suffering from…
Postpartum depression affects anywhere from 10 to 15 percent of women. Some of the symptom include mood swings, crying spells, sleeping problems and irritability. Postpartum depression can be crippling. It can also make it difficult for you to care for your child.…
Postpartum depression takes a huge toll on the life of many women. Not only the women, but the community and infant can also be effect by this such depression. Postpartum has taken many women to the edge, being the cause of many deaths. Key findings show that solutions are being used to help cure postpartum depression. Programs were built as well to help the growth of the mother.…
Analysis of the Veracity of Media Portrayal of Postpartum Depression Postpartum depression (PPD) affects approximately 10-15% of mothers in the United States with detrimental effects to mother and child throughout the lifespan. (Gress-smith, Leucken, 2012) The occurrence of a mood or anxiety disorder following pregnancy is a common complication of pregnancy and can lead to devastating effects for both mother and child. This paper seeks to assess the veracity of a recent article published by Kelly Wallace of CNN concerning PPD as it relates to a recent rash of tragedies in New York City involving mothers throwing their infants out of multi-story windows resulting in multiple infant fatalities.…
The narrator tells us that as a young child she used to “lie awake as a child and get more entertainment and terror out of blank walls and plain furniture than most children could find in a toy-store.” (Gardener 79) This entertainment and terror could be an example of the narrator’s mental state her whole life, as one of the risk factors of postpartum depression is a history of depression (“Postpartum depression”). On the other hand, postpartum psychosis is much more severe and a person who has this needs to seek immediate help. The Mayo Clinic lists symptoms postpartum psychosis as “Confusion and disorientation, obsessive thoughts about your baby, hallucinations and delusions, sleep disturbances, paranoia and attempts to harm yourself or your baby.”…
Some other things to keep a watch for during this perinatal period, are signs of bi-polar, anxiety, PTSD, and psychosis. For decades, post-partum depression has been said to be caused from a hormone imbalance in the mother, but there is evidence to challenge that now that is being brought out. Some of the issues the 17 fathers and 30 mothers in this research said were social problems, relationship stress, family- work balance issues and struggles with poverty. The parents ranged from low to middle class, and there were no diagnosis of a perinatal mental health condition, but all involved had experienced prolonged symptoms of at least one condition. Lower income families faced more of the poverty…
Postpartum Illness The birth of a child can be a wonderful and exciting experience, but following childbirth some women may experience a disorder called Postpartum Illness. Postpartum Illness is the combination of hormonal changes, psychological adjustment to motherhood, and fatigue. It is characterized by mood swings and “baby blues” which are normal reactions to many mothers. The onset of baby blues usually occurs from three to five days after delivery.…
Postpartum depression is a type depression disorders among women who gave birth to new born baby, starting just after ten to fifteen days and up to a year after giving birth. Postnatal depression affects one in seven women after birth and this can course great impact on the mother’s health and wellbeing as well as it will impact on the infant’s development (Armstrong & Small, 2010). According current literature shows that the signs for postnatal depression are feeling of sadness, hopeless, disengaging, and crying with no reason and others. Postnatal depression can be result in being mild to severe condition. Prevalence of depression is the measure on how frequently or commonly a disease is prevailed among the population.…
Is unusual, unusual behavior actually normal behavior? This is actually an important question to ask when it comes to postpartum depression. Postpartum depression is an illness like heart disease. Anyone can get this illness, it doesn't matter how smart, successful or religious you are. An example of people who may get this disease, but not limited to are women who've given birth.…
When it comes to first time babies, people seem to completely and totally forget the father. The mother is given all of the advice, she has all of the published literature to refer to, baby literate friends and relatives and all the networks and support she could possibly need. But Fathers seem to be left completely alone to fend for themselves and to figure it out all on their own, which seems a bit unfair. Dads need advice too!…
My mother was raised in an affectionate family with a father who was also in the Navy therefore, not home much. Very clichéd, her dad drank and had lady friends while out on tour. His frequent tours away from the family left Nydia, my maternal grandmother, lonely with three children. My grandmother and the kids would travel to Puerto Rico a lot to spend time with her family. Eventually being with family was not enough to get her out her slump…
Women who have had a depressive episode before conceiving make up thirty percent of women who have PPD. Approximately one out of one thousand mothers experience postpartum psychosis. This may include confusion, fatigue, agitation, delusions, hearing voices, rapid speech, and a loss of reality. This is most likely to develop in women that have a history of bipolar or other psychosis. It is possible for women to experience some form of PPD after an abortion or miscarriage (Venis and McCloskey 9).…
It 's quite common,and in most cases, last no more than a couple days to two weeks. The most intense version is called “postpartum psychosis” and is very uncommon, and “affects about only 0.2% of women, about two in one thousand” according to Postpartum Depression Cause and Consequence by Michael W. O 'Hara, Ph.D from the department of Psychology in The University of Iowa, and the main cause for this can differ from the mom already having psychological problems to her environment/ development. The purpose of this research paper is to talk about the middle. Postpartum depression is the one more likely to cause problems for most women as it is, more intense than postpartum baby blues and, more common than postpartum psychosis. According to a research article from Brown University “...postpartum depression,…