Postpartum depression is a form of acute depression, which can affect women, and less frequently men, after childbirth.
Postpartum depression is suggested to be caused with hormonal changes in the woman's body soon after blessed event. The fact is that fathers may also experience the postpartum depression. This form of depression may be as foudroyant so lengthy. It may last from a few hours to several days, sometimes weeks and gain momentum with lifestyle changes and a discomfort coming from it.
The problem with some descriptions can be called the maternity blues, but it is not so, that is not the same thing as postpartum depression. When the maternity blues is a mild case of the problem, the postpartum depression is suggested to be a kind of psychosis. As a rule, the postpartum depression lasts from some hours to 21 days and declines with getting adequate amounts of sleep.
Symptoms of this depression can come into being anytime in the first year, not only right after the childbirth. The symptoms of frequent occurrence are:
- tearfulness;
- hopelessness;
- irritability;
- hypochondriasis;
- sleeplessness;
- guilt;
- impairment of concentration;
- sleep and eating disturbances;
- feeling of total discomfort;
- headache;
- exhaustion;
- blank;
- anhedonia;
- being inadequate in taking care of the baby;
- sexual activity lowering.