The stress and sleepless nights that new mothers are faced with sometimes push their mental health way past the typical mood swings of the so-called baby blues. Some are faced with a more lethal and rare diagnosis: postpartum psychosis.
What is postpartum psychosis? Postpartum depression, one of the more severe perinatal psychiatric conditions, affects about one in eight new mothers. By comparison, postpartum psychosis is "considerably rarer," said The New York Times. It's known to affect between one and two women per 1,000 births worldwide, though the number may be higher.
The condition has a rapid onset, with symptoms that can include "hallucinations, delusions, paranoia, rapid changes in mood, confusion, and behavior changes," Psychology Today said. Some mothers might be "high-energy, talking faster than usual or staying awake for days," while others feel "depressed and disconnected from their baby," said the Times. In more extreme cases, women might have thoughts of harming themselves or the baby. They may experience command hallucinations, where they hear voices that instruct them to do dangerous things. The delusions "take over their mind and their body," Columbia University's Dr. Margaret Spinelli, who evaluated women on trial for killing their children while experiencing postpartum psychosis, said to the Times. "They are like puppets."
Postpartum psychosis is believed to be triggered by a combination of factors. Hormonal changes are thought to play a role. Environmental factors accompanying caring for a newborn, like sleep deprivation, also play their part. Women with a personal or family history of bipolar disorder are at a higher risk of developing postpartum psychosis, according to one study.
Is it treatable? Thankfully, the answer is yes. Postpartum psychosis requires emergent care, usually in the form of psychiatric hospitalization, to protect both mother and baby. In the U.S., women can stay at general psychiatric wards, but infants are not allowed to stay overnight; the average stay is less than two weeks. Overseas, mother-and-baby units allow them to stay together under careful supervision. Experts consider them the "gold standard of care," said the Times. Women can remain for months if needed.
The postpartum period is a "critical time" for new moms who are both "immensely at-risk and often overlooked," psychologist Mark Travers said at Forbes. Without support and treatment, "helpless mothers can tragically become criminals in the blink of an eye — when in reality, they're simply victims of circumstances beyond their control." |