Post natal depression is a kind of a clinical depression which affects mostly women after childbirth. This depression is also termed as postpartum depression and is less likely to affect men since the percentage of fathers suffering from it between 1% and 25.5%. Post natal depression is thus a common occurrence and generally goes away after a few days.
But in those cases where it has stronger symptoms, it must be dealt with carefully. Some symptoms of postpartum depression include fatigue, sadness, reduced libido, anxiety, irritability, changes in sleeping patterns and episodes of crying.
Treatment and Cure:
The following are some of the most effective ways of dealing with the problem:
- Support and Advice-The first step to deal with this problem is to recognize the problem through its symptoms and then take action. It is important for your family, partner and friends to support you through this phase and help you get out of it. Counsellors also play a big role in helping you deal with this kind of a depression so you can think of joining support groups.
- Exercise-It has been a proven fact that exercising can help you get out of the postpartum depression. Consult a fitness trainer and get yourself engaged in a regular fitness training schedule.
- Psychological Treatment-For women who have no previous record of mental illness or depression, the first line of treatment generally is psychological treatment. This kind of a treatment is mostly helpful for those females who have mild-moderate depression.
There are many types of psychological treatments possible and some of them are mentioned below:
ü Self-help-this is a way of helping yourself in getting out of postnatal depression and it can be done through self-help manuals and interactive computer programs.
ü Talking therapies-this is a kind of a therapy in which you are asked to talk about how you feel so as to get your feelings out. The two of the most common talking therapies include cognitive behavioral therapy and interpersonal therapy.
- Taking Antidepressants– Another effective form of treatment for getting over post natal depression is taking antidepressants. But antidepressants are only given in the case when a person has had previous history of depression or has moderate postnatal depression. Antidepressants are meant for those cases where there are severe symptoms of postpartum depression or where you haven’t been able to respond well to counselling or other forms of treatments. What antidepressants do is that they balance the level of the mood-altering chemicals that are present in your brain and ease symptoms of irritability, feeling blue, sleeplessness and even lack of focus and concentration. A lot of people believe that antidepressants are addictive but this is not always the case.
- Electroconvulsive Therapy– If you are suffering from severe postnatal depression symptoms, then you might have to go for electroconvulsive therapy but this is generally the last resort that doctors would recommend. This treatment helps in those cases where other treatment methods have failed or where they had little effect. In this case, one is recommended to take antidepressants afterwards.
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