Husbands, Understand Postpartum Depression Your Wife Can Experience
As new parents, the presence of a baby certainly brings great happiness to you and your family. However, after giving birth your wife may become excessively gloomy and sad. These symptoms may indicate that she has postpartum depression.
Postpartum depression (postpartum depression) is a type of depression that occurs after giving birth. The symptoms you experience are often similar to those of the baby blues, but the two are different things.
Depression after giving birth and baby blues can appear in the early weeks after giving birth. The difference is in how long the symptoms of the two conditions last.
Baby blues usually last for 2 weeks until they subside on their own. Meanwhile, postpartum depression can last for several weeks, months, up to 1 year after giving birth, and the symptoms generally will not subside on their own without treatment.
These are the Reasons Wives Experiencing Postpartum Depression
The exact cause of postpartum depression is not known. However, this condition is thought to occur due to several factors, such as:
Hormonal changes
After giving birth, the levels of the hormones estrogen and progesterone in your wife's body will drop dramatically. This decrease in hormones triggers mood swings and unstable emotional conditions
Psychological problems
The many responsibilities and exhaustion of being a mother can cause your wife stress, even experiencing postpartum depression. The risk of this condition can be higher if your wife previously had certain psychological disorders, such as depression and bipolar disorder.
In addition, postpartum depression can also occur when a woman has the following conditions:
- Have difficulty breastfeeding
- Being pregnant at a young age or already having many children
- Experiencing a stressful event, such as losing a job, having financial problems, or the death of a family member
- Have complications during pregnancy or childbirth, such as anemia, prolonged labour, or premature delivery
- Become a victim of domestic violence
Symptoms of Postpartum Depression
These symptoms of postpartum depression usually appear within a few weeks after giving birth. However, there are also women who only show symptoms after a few months or 1 year after giving birth
When your wife has postpartum depression, there are several symptoms that you can recognize, namely:
- No desire to do daily activities
- Emotions are out of control and change easily, for example becoming moody, sad, or angry quickly
- Difficulty sleeping
- Appetite decreased or even increased
- Difficult to concentrate and easy to forget
- Difficulty or reluctance to care for and interact with your Little One
- Feeling guilty, worthless, or unworthy of motherhood
- Thinking about hurting yourself or your little one
- Appears postcoital dysphoria
- Have suicidal thoughts
Things to Do if a Wife Has Postpartum Depression
If your wife is showing symptoms of postpartum depression, be there and provide emotional support for her. Attention, support, and affection from you is the best medicine so that your wife can go through this difficult time.
For more details, here are steps you can take when your wife experiences postpartum depression:
- Be patient and try to understand the condition. Make time to always be there for him so that he feels supported and doesn't harbor these negative feelings alone.
- Help your wife so that she can care for and maintain her own health, for example by making nutritious food
- Help your wife take care of your little one and do the housework so she has time to rest. If you feel overwhelmed, you can ask for help from other people to lighten the chores at home.
- Be a good listener if your wife shares her feelings. Listen to what he has to say empathetically and not judge him.
Don't delay taking your wife to a psychologist if you find she is experiencing symptoms of postpartum depression, okay? The sooner the treatment is done, the greater and faster the chance of recovery.
Label : Family
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