Renewed attention on postpartum depression highlights differences from postpartum psychosis
CHICAGO (WLS) -- With a jury hung and Americans divided over the Lindsay Clancy murder trial, the conversation surrounding postnatal health is now at the forefront.
ABC7 spoke with Chicago-area medical experts.
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"Symptoms of postpartum depression are very varied," Professor Darius Tandon in the Department of Medical Social Sciences at Northwestern University said.
"I think the biggest misconception is that somebody who's suffering from postpartum depression is going to have that same magnitude of symptoms as somebody with postpartum psychosis," he said.
According to the National Institutes of Health, up to 20 percent of new mothers in the United States experience postpartum depression, characterized by low mood, lack of pleasure, and loss of energy.
"Postpartum psychosis is something much more severe, also much more rare, characterized by hallucinations, delusions, extreme insomnia," Tandon said.
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The first six weeks after childbirth are often the hardest, according to doula Rachel Williams, who says new moms are forced to juggle finances, child bonding, and outside pressures.
"Your hormones, again, are coming down off that high of pregnancy," Williams told Eyewitness News. "I've had clients who have literally broken down and said, 'I don't know what's wrong with me.'"
At Northwestern's "Mothers and Babies" program, researchers are studying new interventions for mothers suffering from postpartum depression.
"You do not have to do big things to be able to improve your mood. Little things like listening to a song that you enjoy, going for a walk, feeling sunshine on your face - all of these things can be things that improve your mood," Tandon said.
With more Americans now talking about postpartum depression, Tandon hopes the page could be turning.
"We are at a place where this renewed attention is going to give folks who are interested in this work more opportunity to say, 'we need to provide more resources to this issue,'" Tandon said.
