Maternal Mental illness: A look at Postpartum Depression, its new inclusion into DSM-5, and treatment issues Antonella Uribe John Jay College of Criminal Justice INTRODUCTION Sandra was a 26 year old mother of four children who had been married for eight years. She had given birth to her fourth child two months ago, with the help of a midwife. Due to her husband’s recent pay cut, and already difficult financial situation, Sandra did not receive any antenatal or postnatal care. About a month after birth she felt normal. However, she soon began to exhibit unusual behavior including losing interest in her daily activities, spending most of the day alone without speaking to anyone, and ceasing to care for her …show more content…
This paper will focus on the challenges faced when diagnosing and treating PPD, as well as its new inclusion in the DSM-5. What is Postpartum depression? There have been many changes made to the criterion for PPD since its inclusion in the DSM-IV and DSM-5. Currently, in the DSM-5, PPD is classified under depressive disorders. It is listed as a specifier under “peripartum disorders,” stating that the onset of mood symptoms occur during pregnancy or in the 4 weeks following delivery. In the DSM-IV, it is classified under mood disorders. The DSM-IV included a “criteria for Postpartum onset specifier,” which define postpartum onset as an episode occurring within four weeks postpartum. While these two classifications are similar, the DSM-5 revision made a point to elaborate on the specifier by adding a note that stated mood episodes can have their onset either during pregnancy or postpartum. It then goes on to include the fact that 50% of “postpartum” major depressive episodes actually begin prior to delivery, which is why they are referred to as peripartum episodes (DSM-5, p.186). Peripartum episodes can occur with or without psychotic features, which can explain a case of simple “baby blues” vs. infanticide, or thoughts or delusions of killing the
This article talked about dealing with women’s postpartum depression (PPD) in a spiritual way. Similar to Borra, C., Iacovou, M., & Sevilla, A’s article, the author also mentioned that the fluctuation of hormonal or chemical levels in women can be triggered by circumstances which include socioeconomic status, prior mental health history and their childbirth experiences such as if the mother had the experience of a traumatic delivery, preterm labor or difficulty in feeding. These factors not only influence on the well-being of the mother but also impact on the families, marriage and the lifelong health development of the child and their siblings.
Postpartum depression (PPD) exists as a part of the spectrum of major depression, coded with a modifier for postpartum onset which is defined as an episode of depression, mania, or
In any work of literature, dramatic events can be analyzed to help further the knowledge of a work’s purpose, theme, and characters. Moments of such intensity have a monumental impact upon factors in a story and often reveal motivations and influences of a character. In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Roger Chillingsworth plays a significant role in the story with his constant acts of cruelty. By studying his actions, we can understand his hidden emotions, his impact upon others, and his position’s connection to the human condition.
Interning with the Fist Judicial District of Pennsylvania (FJD) has been a rewarding experience. I have been able to grow as an individual, personally, as well as professionally. I have improved my writing portfolio, by adding serious content and focusing on internal communications. Interning during the fall semester has been difficult at times; balancing an internship, full course load, and a job equals a lot of stress. Also, taking my capstone a semester early has added to a lot of pressure this semester. With all of my obligations, successfully managing my time has been extremely important. Now that it is the end of the semester, I am glad I took on many responsibilities this semester, because I was able to prove my hard work ethic to myself.
Postpartum depression, which is the most prevalent of all maternal depressive disorders, is said to be the hidden epidemic of the 21st century. (1) Despite its high prevalence rate of 10-15% and increased incidence, postpartum depression often goes undetected, and thus untreated. (2) Nearly 50% of postpartum depression cases are untreated. As a result, these cases are put at a high risk of being exposed to the severe and progressive nature of their depressive disorder. (3) In other words, the health conditions of untreated postpartum depression cases worsen and progress to one of their utmost stages, and they are: postpartum obsessive compulsive disorder, postpartum panic disorder, postpartum post traumatic stress, and postpartum psychosis.
Courage can be defined in different ways as shown by Anne Sexton’s “Courage” poem and Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird. Sexton would say courage comes in small acts and in these small acts of courage are what teaches people how to find the strength within themselves to accept things the way they are. Atticus Finch, one of the main characters in the novel, would argue that courage is perseverance and fighting till the end even though the battle may have already been lost. This novel takes place around the 1930s, and is told through the eyes of Scout Finch. From her, one might learn about her father, Atticus Finch, an attorney who hopelessly aims to prove the innocence of a black man wrongly accused of rape. Both definitions of courage can be found in three characters in the novel; Atticus’ determination to help Robinson, Scout’s ability to conceal her emotions, and Mrs. Dubose’s perseverance to fight till the end.
The authors discussed the need for effective treatments to address the high global rates of PPD and maternal depression up to two years after delivery (Letourneau et al., 2015, p. 1588). The research problem is the efficacy of TBPS in diminishing maternal depression up to two years postpartum (Letourneau et al., 2015, p. 1588). This problem arose due to three main factors; increased PPD and maternal depression rates, and existent theoretical frameworks about TBPS with early PPD.
There are several mood disorders that falls under the umbrella of PPD which makes it vital to decipher between them.
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) categorizes postpartum depression as a subtype to major depression and has specifiers to the onset to categorize an episode of major depression that begins 4 weeks postpartum. According to the (DSM-IV) a person who suffers from major depressive disorder must have depression symptoms such as either have a depressed mood or a loss of interest or pleasure in daily activities. This mood must represent a change from the person 's normal social, occupational, educational or other important functioning. These functions must also be negatively impaired by the change in mood.
The birthing process generally leaves women with overwhelming joy and happiness. However, some women do experience a period of postpartum blues lasting for a few days or at most a couple of weeks but goes away with the adjustment of having a baby (Postpartum Depression, 2013). A condition called Postpartum Depression Disorder (PPD) leaves a dark gray cloud over 10-20% of woman after birth that is recognized in individuals 3 weeks to a year after the delivery of their baby (Bobo & Yawn, 2014). PPD leaves new mothers feeling lonely, anxious, and hopeless (Bobo at el, 2014). Postpartum Depression is a cross cutting disorder that can affect any woman after the delivery of a baby regardless of race, socioeconomic status, age, or education level (Postpartum Depression, 2013). Although this disorder affects more than 10% of women the article Concise Review for Physicians and Other Clinicians: Postpartum Depression reports that less than half of women with PPD are actually diagnosed with this condition (Bobo at el, 2014). It is important that postpartum women and their support systems receive education on what PPD consist of and ways to recognize the signs and symptoms of PPD so that a diagnosis is not overlooked. Early diagnosis is important because early recognition and treatment of the disorder yields for better results when treating individuals with PPD. In this paper I will deliver information about PPD based on recent literature,
The presence of risk factors does not guarantee that a woman will experience PPD, but it may indicate that the health care provider should pay a little more attention to possible signs and symptoms of depression. Known risk factors include depression or other mental illness prior to, and during, pregnancy, a family history of depression or other mental health disorders, a history of substance abuse, the age of the mother, financial concerns, lack of a support system, and being a single parent (Camp, 2013). In the presence of risk factors it is important for the health care provider to educate the woman on ways to
As mental health in America is finally being addressed and more research is seen, it is important to look at the potential causes or correlations that lead to common diagnoses for patients. According to Brummelte and Galea (2010), “depression affects approximately 1 in 5 people, with the incidence being 2-3x higher in women than in men.” Postpartum depression (PPD), a subset of this debilitating disease, has an estimated prevalence rate of 13-19% with another estimated 50% that are undiagnosed (O’hara and McCabe, 2013). As a whole, it has the same symptoms as major depressive disorder but diagnosis occurs within 0-4 weeks of giving birth (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Part of this lack of diagnosis is due to a multitude of healthcare
Discovering the disease from the early beginnings will help to cure it easily. This also applies on postnatal depression. Postnatal depression has early signs a mother can notice on herself which tells her that she is in a risk. Those signs include crying for no obvious reason, having difficulty to bind with her baby, neglecting herself. For example, she doesn't wash or change her clothes, losing the sense of time. For instance, being unaware for so long, losing the sense of humor and not being able to see the funny side of anything, and worrying that something is wrong with her baby.
Thurgood, Avery and Williamson published an article in the American Journal of Clinical Medicine (2009). According to their review, they found that many cases of PPD may remain undiagnosed due to constraints such as time and concerns about the social acceptability of screening. But the majority of undiagnosed cases are probably due to the social stigma of being labelled an “unhappy mother”, (Kabir et al., 2008) not to mention the public image of PPD. Upon formal screening, many women scoring in a depressive range fully admit to being depressed, understanding that their symptoms are neither minor nor transient. But they reject the term “postpartum depression” because this implies to them that their feelings are caused by their babies (Lumley,
Almost ten percent of recent mothers experience postpartum depression ((3)), occurring anytime within the first year after childbirth ((3)). The majority of the women have the symptoms for over six months ((2)) . These symptoms include