Postpartum Depression: Symptoms, Causes, and Treatments
The birth of the baby is an event to be celebrated by the mother and the family, it is time to make many plans. But sometimes it does not happen the way most people imagine. These are the cases of postpartum depression, where, some time after the arrival of the child, joy gives way to sadness, a feeling of emptiness and anguish.
the greatest risks to the children of a depressive mother are related to neurocognitive and psychomotor development. They are children who receive less stimuli and, therefore, present important delays in their development. They also have a greater risk of developing depressive symptoms and learning deficits in the future.
What are the symptoms of postpartum depression?
Some general characteristics may help to realize that a woman is having postpartum depression. The woman who can not take care of the baby, who feels so incapable and so helpless that she prefers not to go near him in order to protect him.
The opposite of this case, which is the woman who overprotects the baby and who believes that only she is able to understand and supply his needs, preventing the contact of any other person, including the father.
And the third, which is the most common and the most difficult to be perceived, because it is a middle ground, the woman who looks after the baby as she should, apparently, but does not feel well and has typical symptoms of depression, “explains Luciana Rocha. Within these frameworks, the main symptoms are:
Depressed mood: Constant sadness, even for no apparent reason. Even though everything is fine, the woman does not feel well, happy or quiet. It’s as if she’s overwhelmed, tense, worried and sad all the time or most of the time.
Discouragement: Lack of courage, lack of energy to perform activities, even the simplest and most common ones, or those that were common or had an interest before.
Loss of Pleasure: You are no longer interested in the activities you were interested in before, do not perform or are satisfied. It does what it takes and because it takes only, it fulfills the obligations.
Tiredness: Constant feeling of tiredness and lack of energy. At the slightest effort, she is immensely tired. The feeling of tiredness is not directly proportional to the effort made.
Lack of concentration: You do not have enough energy to stay focused or with focused attention for the least amount of time.
Change in sleep and appetite: Insomnia and excessive sleep are often reported. Sleep during the day and insomnia in the evenings. Appetite is also affected, in general, by a lack of interest in food, but the opposite can happen.
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