Essay on Is Postpartum Depression a Mental Illness

This paper explores the impact of postpartum depression on women mental health. The main objective is to analyze in detail the definition, the symptoms, and the controversial side of Postpartum depression, and how Social workers have the power to impact the lives of those mothers who face postpartum depression through prevention and interventions. Also, I would base my paper on the need for continuing education about postpartum depression The American Psychiatric Association (APA, 2013) classifies PPD as a major depressive disorder. The primary symptoms include sadness, hopelessness, worthlessness, thoughts of self-harm or of harming the infant, and behavioral changes such as slowed body movements (APA, 2013) As well as to learn more about the role of a social worker service in mental health practice and their contribution to the importance of the woman care during the process of pregnancy, childbirth, and puerperium.

Postpartum depression (PPD) is a very serious mental illness and women need to be aware of the negative effects associated with this condition. However, Postpartum depression condition can be minimized when it is recognized early stage and when is treated properly. Although Social Workers have a presence in different fields, this paper proves that Social Workers in mental health facilities are very needy, they are in high demand, and, they have rewards jobs providing valuable services, that may benefit all those women who are struggling with maternal mental health problems such as Post-Partum Depression. Psychiatrists have long used the term postpartum depression (Marce,1858) to refer to episodes of major depression in women that begin around the time of the birth of a child (post = after; partum =birth) and delivery upon transitioning into the birth recovery state. Perhaps because childbirth is expected to be a time of joy in our society, and because caring for a baby must be a pleasant moment under any condition, it is very difficult to imagine that being a mother will bring also moments of panic and pain.

A new mother never admitted any emotional problems to her doctors or knew for that matter that there was help for her state of mind. Women in therapy, as well, found it difficult to share their stories about their postpartum with their therapists. Even textbooks of psychiatry or obstetrics at that time, would quickly follow up with explanations that postpartum illnesses were like other mental illnesses without the physiological connection to pregnancy and/or childbirth (Hamilton, J. A., & Harberger, P. N., 1992, p. xiii). Postpartum depression is treated as a mental condition or emotional mood change that occurs in up to 1 in 7 women after childbirth. When a woman experiences postpartum depression (PPD) she has feelings of extreme sadness, she feels lonely, shame, hopelessness, anxiety, tiredness guilt, and worthlessness, also she can be dangerous to herself, the baby, or even her family members. This condition can appear at any time like a dark silence ghost, it usually starts within 1 to 3 weeks of having the baby. Symptoms vary from one woman to another woman, for instance, some symptoms can be behavioral and psychological such as crying more often than usual or without apparent reason, worrying or feeling excessively anxious, feeling cranky, irritable, or restless, sleeping excessively or not being able to sleep, even when the baby sleeps, having trouble concentrating, remembering details and take decisions, feel anger, having physical pain and discomfort, eating too much or too little, constantly doubt your ability to care for your baby, think about hurting yourself or your baby in the extreme cases. (Milgrom, Martin & Negri, 1999). Also, Researchers until now are continued looking for the specific factors that cause Postpartum depression, they do not have a single cause, and they do not exactly why women after the birth of a child are more vulnerable to depression. Nevertheless, it could be a consequence of a combination of physical, emotional, and external risk factors that increase the possibility of the development of postpartum depression.

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Physical factors could be the woman's hormone level (estrogen and progesterone) that quickly goes down after giving birth, this issue generates chemical alterations in the woman's brain that can cause changes in their state of mind (moods and thoughts). Being a pregnant woman demands a lot of emotional care, if those women do not have the right conditions at home, they easily become depressed. Other external factors could be the social pressure, the stereotypes, the socioeconomic level, and the way feeding Postpartum Disorders. In the United States between 2004 and 2005, the CDC, Center for Disease Control, reported that 10-15% of mothers within the first year after giving birth develop Postpartum Depressive Symptoms, PDS (Brett, Barfiels & Williams, 2008). The data was taken from 17 states and was based on self‐reporting. After searching different sources, I found two important reasons why women with (PPD) do not break the silence and ask for help. The first reason is they preferred suffering in silence, because silence is, precisely, one of the allies of postpartum depression, and the second reason because of the gender stereotype that can play a big negative impact on a woman’s life and what she believes she should be feeling and doing as a good mother, they also worry about being judges as a bad mother. Consequently, new mothers can feel embarrassed, ashamed, afraid, or guilty to talk and admit to feeling depressed or feeling sadness. Women with DDP most of the time don’t tell anyone about their symptoms. Moreover, only a health care provider such as a Medical, obstetrician, Nurse, Social worker, etc. can diagnose postpartum depression in a woman. Since the symptoms are wide and may vary from one woman to another.

Postpartum depression is diagnosed based on the “Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 5” (DSM-5) criteria that perceive the condition as a subtype of major depression. According to this criterion, this condition is diagnosed when the major depression symptoms are manifested within 2-4 weeks after birth (Stuart-Parrigon & Stuart, 2014). One of the most effective preventive tools is the EPDS standard screen evaluation which is comprised of 10 questions with a score of (0-3) for each answer, the results can range from (0--30). If the patient answers scores higher than 13, is a big alert and the patient will need more continue assessing for PPD and determining whether the patient needs treatment or referral (Schaar & Hall, 2014) Postpartum depression (PPD), affects at least 10-20% of new mothers globally However, the true incidence rate may be much higher, PPD is growing like a pandemic disease without control. There is a lot of controversy about how early postpartum depression can be diagnosed and detected.

Researchers have pointed to Obstetricians in the middle of the controversy since screening is not considered to be a standard practice in most women's obstetrician facilities, leaving PPD conditions completely undetected and completely untreated in many pregnant women (Schaar & Hall, 2014). In the same ways, Obstetricians argue that they do not have control over PPD prevention because they have only one visit with mothers post-delivery, after 5 to 6 weeks post birth which is too early for catching up the Post-Partum Depression symptoms. There is a specific fields of Social Workers in Maternal care that have the clinical skills and knowledge to deal with Perinatal, Mood, PPD, and other prenatal care, the are called Perinatal Social Workers who have to support women and families in complete need when, a perinatal loss occurs for example, infertility, miscarriage, fetal diagnosis, stillbirth or neonatal death the perinatal social worker helps families to understand, accurate and deal with feelings of pain. Due to all the problems associated with the prevention of PPD, a new hope arises for social workers in the mental health fields, they are in high demand since Obstetrics, pediatrics, and primary care physicians report that are too busy and they do not have properly trained to deal with a mental disorder. Finally, there will be a light and the end of the dark, more social workers will be properly trained, with continuous education programs that prepare them for the prevention and intervention of Postpartum depression. Overall, I can say that although mental health is a stigma in this case Postpartum depression there will always be social workers trained with love ethics, and professionalism, willing to help and deal with these problems. Doing this paper, I have discovered a world of valuable information about the Maternal Mental Health field and every knowledge about my career is an achievement.