Motherhood is an absolutely natural process that women have been successfully coping with for millions of years.
It seems that there is nothing more beautiful when, after nine months of waiting, a tiny human cub appears, which you will now love and protect.
But maternity has the downside of the medal - postpartum depression - a little unpleasant thing and very dangerous for a new mother.
We'll talk about it today.
Does postpartum depression occur without a cause?
Our women are generally unfamiliar with the notion of "postpartum depression".
Like, this is a fictitious illness of pampered young ladies with nannies, governesses, servants.
When the herd of servants is running around you, then you can cheer.
And we, honest toilers, who are forced to take care of the child, keep the house in order, prepare food, and wash and iron the endless diaper-rivets, there is no time to think about such nonsense.
It's still good, if the husband with the child helps and does not yell from the threshold: "Where's my borsch? !", coming from work.
Our women simply forget that depression is a disease, which means that it can arise without your desire and ignoring the problem will not solve it, but it will only aggravate it.
Another dangerous misconception is to think that the symptoms of postpartum depression are characteristic only of women who did not want a child or their pregnancy and childbirth were difficult, so they had time to dislike the child who had been eagerly awaited all this time.
How to get out of depression: psychiatrist advice
The disease catalyst may well look like this, but postpartum depression also has other causes of :
- hormonal imbalance;
- health problems arising from pregnancy or childbirth;
- lack of moral support and real help from family members, especially - the husband;
- lifestyle change: a successful business woman, accustomed to communication, is forced to sit at home without house;
- unfulfilled hopes: you wrote your own script for maternity leave, and real life is far from your imagination;
- material problems - not enough money to buy the baby the most needed, etc.
Postpartum depression: the most dangerous symptoms
I already said that you can not ignore postpartum depression, but often women and their loved ones do not seek medical help only because they do not notice the symptoms.
A gloomy, irritated, careless, eternally unsleeped young mother is a typical phenomenon for our latitudes.
And yet postpartum depression has a number of pronounced symptoms, which, if you look closely, you can see. Woman:
- Constantly feels tired and can not withstand elementary physical activities.
-
Has serious sleep problems.
Babies often wake up at night, so it's no secret that moms do not get enough sleep.
But, if a woman can not fall asleep, is constantly awakening and not from the crying of a child, but for no apparent reason, then this is already a symptom of depression.
- Afraid even to approach the baby, because he believes that it can harm him.
- Irritant, aggressive, nervous, constantly crying for no reason and breaks into a cry.
- Demonstrates unwillingness to communicate with anyone from family and friends, even their own husband perceives it as an enemy.
-
Not at all caring.
It is clear that in the first month after the birth of a child, a young mother may not be up to pedicure manicures, but she should regularly wash her head and go in clean home clothes.
-
Has problems with appetite.
A young mother either absorbs food indiscriminately, even one that harms the baby, or even refuses to eat.
- Rasseyana, forgetful, inattentive, can not concentrate on any activity.
Is it necessary to treat postpartum depression?
Both young mothers and their relatives themselves answer this question in different ways, but still most of them tend to agree: it will pass by itself.
Every woman with a baby is difficult at first.
Here the kid grows up, it becomes better to sleep, Mom will learn how to handle it confidently and everything will go well.
Sometimes postpartum depression really goes by itself thanks to the support and help of loved ones.
Watch your young mother: if after a week or two she looks and feels much better, then you should not worry.
If it's been 3-4 weeks, and the symptoms of depression have not gone away, then you should start taking the treatment.
If this is not done, the consequences of this disease can be quite unpleasant:
- suicidal thoughts;
- an uncontrolled desire to cause harm to the child;
- aggressive behavior;
- serious mental disorders;
- impossibility to establish normal emotional contact with the child even when he grows up, etc.
The most effective ways to treat postpartum depression
Treatment of postpartum depression depends on the degree of its severity.
If so far the symptoms are not so serious, then it will suffice:
- to surround the young mother with care and attention;
- provide her with all possible support and assistance( if there is no possibility to hire a nanny, then the husband and both grandmothers should help);
- give a sleep: a husband can also approach a child who woke up in the middle of the night, especially if the baby is on artificial feeding;
- make sure that the woman is well-fed: delicious and without harm to the child;
- not to isolate the young mother from society: leave the whole family for walks, invite your wife to a romantic date( you can leave your child with a grandmother for a couple of hours);
- more often say your favorite compliments, words of gratitude for the gifted child, do not forget about how the phrase "I love you" acts on women, etc.
I advise you to watch the following video of the
with the comments of an experienced parent how to overcome that depression:
If you see that despite your support and care, symptoms of postpartum depression do not go anywhere, then in no caseyou can not let things go by themselves.
Advise a young mother to go to an appointment with a psychologist.
It may be difficult to convince her that this is normal.
It is likely that you will be short of time and money for a full( often even medicamental) treatment prescribed by a doctor.
But it's necessary!
Kid needs a healthy and loving mother!