Postpartum psychosis is the most terrible of psychological phenomena. It is still not explained to the end, however, there are many theories on this score. The horror is that a mother whose condition can be described as a psychosis is not dangerous for anyone, but for a child, his father and herself.
The little child is so helpless and frightened that almost all the time he makes a shrill scream. It can make anyone angry. But this is not psychosis - this is the normal reaction of parents who are not quite ready for it.
The psychosis occurs almost immediately after birth, but it can be suppressed and manifested many years later( although this is a great rarity).Usually it lasts about a month and is associated with a strong depression, a depressed state of a young mother. It's not for nothing that this condition was named in the women in childbirth exactly like that. It is similar in features to the phenomenon known in psychiatry, which is called depressive psychosis. In the most vivid cases, the mother's well-being can be exacerbated by hallucinations, altered states of consciousness( confusion of thoughts).It is because of the last symptom that women do not understand that something is wrong with them psychologically.
Postpartum depression( as this phenomenon is also called psychiatrists and psychologists) does not always arise and is in no way related to the order of birth of children. It can occur both after the first pregnancy, and after the second or third. Postnatal psychosis can occur in any woman, from this no one is immune. And yet the risk is greatest when expecting the first child.
There are many ways to explain this phenomenon, but the most common is that a woman's body is so exhausted that she can not perform all functions that correspond to her ideal idea of a good mother. The psyche simply can not adapt to change. Exhaustion in such women with inflated claims to themselves can begin and at the stage of pregnancy. Psychosis during pregnancy is a rarity, and yet it occurs if the bearing of a child is accompanied by heavy loads on the body.
This discrepancy between their abilities and the ideal image of the mother gives rise to delusional ideas, which are the main sign of psychosis. But here there is fear and disappointment in oneself, anger, anxiety of great strength, and a feeling of exhaustion, of despair. And even hypertrophied suspicion to relatives( are they going to harm the child?).Strongly presses on the psyche of the mother feeling of uncertainty, lack of information( what to do, when? How?).Because of the latter, panic develops.
Physicians associate this form of psychosis with physiological changes( hormonal failure), and not with the mental mood of the mother. The latter is more likely a consequence of the physical and moral exhaustion of a woman.
If the postpartum psychosis was not diagnosed in time, it can find a way out without treatment, and not the best! After certain actions of a woman in an obviously inadequate condition, as a rule, there is regret about what was done. A timely course of therapy will correct the situation. A young mother with the support of relatives( they must treat the problem with understanding) and doctors will be able to overcome this difficult period without consequences.
To prevent postpartum psychosis, you need to prepare for bearing, for birth as a real test for the female body, to caring for the baby. Read more books and set yourself up to overcome any difficulties. Stand on the record with a gynecologist. Plan, but do not get carried away. The main thing, remember: ideal mums do not happen, but in your power to do much for the kid, to overcome much for the emergence of a new life, your flesh and blood, which you will never regret, no matter how hard you do not have now.