Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Sings and symptoms of Postpartum Depression

The signs and symptoms of depression after childbirth vary depending on the form of depression. Signs and symptoms of the baby blues – which last only a few days or weeks may include:

• Anxiety
• Sadness
• Irritability
• Crying
• Headaches
• Exhaustion

Symptoms of postpartum depression

Postpartum depression affects 10 to 15 percent of women who give birth. Postpartum depression is best described as the baby blues that deepen and last beyond the first month. Women who suffer from postpartum depression may feel profound sadness, have obsessive thoughts.

The appearance of postpartum depression varies from woman to woman. It may appear as depression, anxiety, obsessive-compulsiveness. Women may be suffering from postpartum depression if feel depressed, and suffer from at least four of the following symptoms almost continuously for at least two weeks:

• Hopelessness and helplessness.
• Sleeplessness despite exhaustion.
• Difficulty concentrating.
• Difficulty making decisions.
• Changes in appetite (i.e., loss of appetite, food cravings).
• Anxiety, fear, guilt.
• Tingling, numbness, or feeling of dread, all of which signal a panic attack.
• Impulses to harm baby or self.
• Obsession with baby’s health.

Postpartum depression varies in severity and may last for several months. Major depression is the most common kind of depression that occurs after pregnancy. Other women suffer from dysthymia a mild but long – lasting depression that may stem from childhood trauma or a current abusive relationship.

Symptoms of Postpartum Psychosis

Postpartum psychosis is a rare but severe illness that affects one in every thousand women who birth. The woman with postpartum psychosis may experience delusions, such as thinking her baby is evil, which involve seeing, hearing, smelling, or otherwise sensing things that aren’t really there.

Psychosis is often termed “a break from reality”. Its hallmark symptoms to differ from other types of psychosis and is generally considered a severe form of depression called bipolar depression. It is combination of illnesses.

The signs and symptoms are even more severe. These are the following symptoms:

• Fear of harming yourself or baby
• Confusion and disorientation
• Hallucinations and delusions
• Paranoia



Posted by Tom at 06:05:29 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |

Thursday, March 27, 2008

Psychotic Depression

We all know that Depression is related to mental health of a human mind, and they are various types of depression that are present like manic depression, major depression, psychotic depression. Here we are about to discuss the psychotic depression, what is it, what are its symptoms, how to cure it etc.

Psychotic Depression is the most severe depression among all. The patient or the sufferer suffering from psychotic depression often faces or experience the moments of hallucination and delusion. The patient starts seeing images or sounds that even does not exist in real. The patient is sometimes convinced that he/she is guilty for the acts or crime that he/she might not be responsible for.  

Some of the symptoms that can interpret depression is weight loss and constipation. The patient suffering from psychotic depression feels him as worthless, hopeless, which in turn develops the chance for committing suicide. People with this problem become very much frustrated and get angry very fast. Such person may not identify their illness, which causes them to a high risk because of negligence of proper meal and hygiene. The common symptoms for this are:

-    suicidal thoughts
-    attempts for suicidal
-    hallucination of sounds and images
-    frustration
-    aggression
-    agitation

The patient who is suffering from psychotic depression needs extra attention and a proper treatment. An improper treatment can lead to worsen the situation as it is a serious case. There are various options for treatment these days like advice on phone or online therapy so that the person can even deal with his personal difficulties. If a person is able to identify this mental disorder it would be better that the person goes to the professional and meets him personally. Depending on the situation it would be beneficial tat the patient is admitted to a hospital were he can get proper attention, and the doctor as well can see the responses to the treatment.

As this problem is serious so they should be treated properly and no embarrassment or hesitation should come in between the treatment. All the things are confidential between the patient and the doctor, so to make the patient comfortable about the matter and let him come out of the stress. The early the treatment the better the cure would be. So ensure proper treatment and professional doctor.

Posted by Tom at 05:43:04 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |