Post-delivery depression an illness with a cure

BANGALORE: A mother throwing her newborn into a dustbin or committing suicide after delivery are no longer unexplained cases of depression. Doctors in India are recognising the definitive depression that takes over women post-delivery known as postpartum depression (PPD).
The number of such cases being reported is only increasing with the rise in the nuclear family system and the growth of inter-caste marriages.
Postpartum mood disorders can vary from mild, transient `blues'' that starts at delivery to the more severe, psychotic depressions that might have fatal repercussions. PPD is an illness like diabetes or heart disease and has a cure too.
``The cure starts by building our awareness on the subject and offer our help and understanding to the patients or prospective victims,'''' says Dr M.G. Desai, associate professor, Urology, Dr B.R. Ambedkar Medical College, who has taken interest in the subject after his family lost a friend to postpartum depression in Bangalore recently.
In cases of PPD, depression is not just a state of mind. It also involves post-natal chemical changes in the body. Hormone levels change during pregnancy and right after childbirth.
These hormone changes may produce chemical changes in the brain that play a part in causing depression. Dr Prakash K. Mehta, gynaecologist, Bhagwan Mahaveer Jain Hospital, says, ``Less than 5 per cent of these patients need to be put on anti-depressants and less than 1 per cent go to the extreme of trying to commit suicide.''''
He quotes instance of women trying to ignore or cause damage to the baby. The new mother can also get into crying episodes, anxiety reactions and are not able to relate to the environment.
Estimates are that this disorder affects 8-15 per cent of all new mothers. A recent study has also shown that only about 3 per cent of these cases were correctly diagnosed.
STEPS THAT CAN HELP
* Offer to baby-sit so that the young mother can snatch a few hours of sleep or some assistance with the household chores or useful advice on newborn care.
* When you see a new mother affected by crying jags, sadness, emotional trauma, guilt, loss of appetite, anorexia, profound sleep disturbances, poor concentration and memory, irritability or feelings of inadequacy to care for the newborn or other children, direct her to seek professional help.
* The commonly used treatments for depression are anti-depressant medication, psychotherapy, or a combination of the two.
* The new mother should find someone to talk to, read, exercise, meditate and relax.
* New mothers should keep a diary and pour on their feelings to it.