In recent years, not only many public mothers have said that they have been tortured by postpartum depression, but more and more female celebrities have also admitted that they have had postpartum depression. This also makes us pay more attention to the psychology of women.
Moreover, with the popularization of psychological knowledge, society has paid more and more attention to mental health, and postpartum depression has gradually begun to be recognized and understood by more people, but there are still many people who disdain, and even do not believe in the existence of "postpartum depression", feeling that new mothers are "too pretentious" and "deceptive".
Some people can't help but ask: Is postpartum depression really just hypocrisy?
Postpartum depression is not hypocrisy!
According to the World Health Organization and a number of professional institutions, 60%~80% of women will have different degrees of depression during pregnancy and after childbirth. Most of them get better within a few weeks, 20% progress to clinical depression, and very few are severe and can lead to tragedy.
In order to avoid the tragedy of postpartum depression, in New Zealand, there is a profession dedicated to returning to the newborn's family - Plunket nurse. One of their main tasks is to regularly check the postpartum mental state of new mothers. Once postpartum depression is found, nurse Plunket will ask mothers to go to a professional medical institution for treatment in time and seek professional help.
In addition, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently approved the first new drug Zulresso specifically for postpartum depression, and the New York Times said that patients use the drug for 48 hours, moderate to severe depression will begin to remission.
It can be seen that foreign countries not only pay attention to the psychological state of postpartum women, but also develop targeted drugs for postpartum depression.
In China, many people feel that the birth of a baby should be celebrated by the whole family, especially the mother, who should be happy and satisfied, consciously or unintentionally ignoring the changes in the body hormones and psychological state of postpartum women.
When the mother is depressed, if she receives appropriate understanding and warm support from her partner and family in time, the depression can be alleviated. However, if the family ignores it and feels that the mother is "pretentious", "doing" and "troublesome", the mother will be more disappointed, depressed, pessimistic, and depressed and more serious, increasing the chance of suffering from "postpartum depression".
▼ The "causes" of postpartum depression mainly include the following aspects:
Personal traits (personality)
The severity of postpartum depression is related to the mother's own personal characteristics and personality.
In general, mothers with a history and family history of depression, introversion, low self-esteem, emotional lability, sensitivity and suspiciousness, perfectionists, etc. are at higher risk of postpartum depression.
Stimulation of negative events during pregnancy and childbirth
Some mothers have experienced some unpleasant, negative events during pregnancy or after childbirth, and have severe mood swings. As:
(1) The pregnancy process is not smooth, the painful experience during childbirth is unbearable, or serious complications occur after childbirth;
(2) Tiredness, less rest time;
(3) The child has health problems, including premature birth, congenital diseases or common neonatal diseases such as jaundice and diarrhea;
(4) Often reproached and even verbally abused, with bad attitudes, cold violence and other mental abuses - "Who doesn't have a child?" "I see you're just fine!" Sentimental! "Why are you so squeamish!" We didn't have a confinement after giving birth in those days! Not the same? "Wait.
Transformation of identity
When a woman gives birth, she really enters another role - "mother".
They no longer seem to belong only to herself, but to the mother of the child.
Feeding every two hours, taking care of the child 24 hours a day, arranging the child's life in an orderly manner, but has long had no time, space, work, and social interaction of their own.
This 24-hour job without rest and without vacation makes new mothers feel anxious, irritable, helpless and depressed. If the family fails to detect the mother's emotions in time, share her pressure, and give her a little rest, it will often make the new mother fall into a persistent depression, feel isolated, and increase the risk of postpartum depression.
▼ So, what can families do in the face of mothers' "postpartum depression"?
1. Learn about prenatal (postpartum) depression, especially husbands
Many gentlemen have little understanding of postpartum depression, and often because they have not understood the knowledge of postpartum depression, they think that their wives are just hypocritical and lose their temper, so they sometimes say some unpleasant things to their wives and hurt their wives.
Therefore, as an expectant father, you must learn the knowledge of postpartum depression in advance and popularize it to the elders in the family, so as not to accidentally "hurt people with an exit".
2. Distraction, mother and child "grasp with both hands"
When a new life comes to a family, the child is often easy to become the focus of the whole family, and the mother who has just experienced life and death is often "forgotten". This condition can make the mother feel a huge sense of loss, loneliness and abandonment, and coupled with the influence of hormones, the mood of new mothers is more likely to be depressed.
Therefore, please remember to give more care to mothers when paying attention to their children.
3. Pay attention to the mother's emotions
New mothers are prone to ups and downs and instability, family members should accompany and listen more, if you find that the mother has depression or more negative thoughts, less blame her for "thinking" and "thinking more", and show more concern and understand her is not easy.
If the mother is found to be depressed for a long time, she should be encouraged to seek medical attention in time, seek the help of a professional psychological counselor, and get out of the haze of postpartum depression as soon as possible.