A Look At Postpartum Mood Disorders

Updated: Feb 18, 2023

I remember my first postnatal appointment after my middle, Scarlett, was born. I remember filling out a quick paper survey and thinking to myself how easy it would be to lie. To pretend I was doing great with the newborn adjustment, in the middle of an unsustainable home situation with the new pandemic. I remember putting down a hint of how I was feeling, but the number of lines allotted enabled my holding it in. It’s really easy for providers to miss you. To miss the sadness. The worry. The pain.

“Baby blues” happens in up to 90% of moms. In summation, the “baby blues” is having a challenging time with the normal signs of motherhood transition. You’re crying because you don’t know what baby needs, there are mood swings, you are stressed and feel overwhelmed with the newborn stage—these are all examples. “Baby blues” lasts up to a month postpartum, and naturally subsides as you build connection and rhythm.

Postpartum mood disorders, however, are seen north of 30% of moms—the more we look, the more we find people with mind and heart wrestlings that disrupt their daily life. Symptoms are up to one year postpartum. Postpartum mood disorders are imperative to address both for you and baby. They can disrupt baby’s development due to their need for human connection, and to learn self-regulation via mirror neuron development. Because babies don’t have language, from age zero to three they instead hold memories in their bodies as feelings. Healing is also critical for the relationship with yourself. For some it’s a glorified collision of past and present self— repetitive thoughts, intense feelings, broken expectations, and worn internal fighting. It’s a combination of messages we we're told what motherhood would be like; what our medical family history is; our personality; individual needs and desires. And for others, postpartum mood disorders bring out a whole different persona, a startling stranger within. Whatever your experience, you’re worth crawling through the muck so healing can begin. So you can get to that place--mind, body, soul--that's meant for you.

There are four major postpartum mood disorders, although two are commonly talked about in mom circles. Here are the highlights:

Postpartum Anxiety and Postpartum Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD):

Anxiety can actually be helpful as it allows you to be a doting mama—healthy anxiety triggers you to check on baby in their crib, ensure they’re dressed properly, or reminds you to double check the car seat. You’ll know, on a gut level, when it feels like more—when you’re past your threshold, you feel like you have lessening influence so you overcompensate in worrisome hypotheticals. Postpartum OCD is taking Postpartum Anxiety one step further—it’s the repetition of worry, thoughts that don’t go away, partnered with compulsive actions. It’s extreme anxiety that creates a habit loop of obsessive thoughts and behaviors to ease those thoughts. If you’re too scared to prepare a meal or to leave the house out of fear or because you haven’t done all the steps you deem required, then this may be an indication.

Postpartum Depression:

More than feeling lazy or unproductive, postpartum depression can look like (but not limited to) having no joy, minimal relational attachment to babe after the newborn phase, excessive guilt, feeling like you’re watching yourself (dissociation), not interested in food, insomnia, suicide ideation, feelings of unworthiness, or can’t seem to focus. Again, you know your baseline— there’s an innate knowing when something’s off kilter.

Postpartum Psychosis:

Is about 1% of the population, which is a lot less than what we see in the movies and hear on the news. But yes, it’s very real. It’s considered a medical emergency given its potential harm to mama and baby. If you’re experiencing extreme paranoia about your safety or otherwise, if you’re experiencing hallucinations, please go to the emergency room. Suicide and fetal homicide is shown here, and often treatment is approached as if you had bipolar disorder as they have similar symptomatology.

Mental health is like a puzzle—medication, talk therapy, and lifestyle choices are equally important pieces to consider and tackle. If you’re beginning to explore medicinal support, commonly a SSRI (like Zoloft) is given for both depression and anxiety given these diagnoses are often intertwined. Initial symptom relief can happen in little as one week, taking up to six weeks for full effect. There can be a stigma related to taking medication postpartum, but there are medications and dosages safe for baby. Natural supplements like Eleuthro, Skullcap, Passionflower, Ashwagandha, Magnesium, and St. John’s Wort have also shown to improve mental wellbeing and ease symptoms. Yes, I’m bias, but it’s very important to be consistently supported by a professional throughout the healing process. Psychotherapy helps you see, process, accept, and move through this life season. Bottom line — your puzzle is different than someone else’s. No one has or will ever be you, thus learn and trust yourself with decisions that are best for you.

Now how you move forward is taking one step at a time. Make follow up health appointments just for the hell of it, you never know what could come up or spill out when you’re there. Lean into your village—share your reality with mamas you do life with. And don’t wait, what we hold inside grows in the dark, keeping you one more day away from your design.

Hear me, mama—if you’re struggling, if any of this sounds like you, it’s not your fault. Even if not a first timer, you’re a first timer. You’ve never been mom to this baby before, in this exact time of your life. There is your biology at play, your nurtured development, and intangibles that bring you here. You are not alone, nor will you ever be. Whether a silent battle or one cried aloud, others are with you.

Xo.

This entry is not a substitution for medical advice. If you feel lead, I welcome you to reach out to me or your medical provider for support.