Being a mama is an experience rife with emotions. From the moment you find out you’re pregnant to the day you send your child off to college, and everything else in between, there are several moments where you’ll feel a whole spectrum of emotions. Considering this is part of the human experience, experiencing all these emotions is normal.
Despite all the different emotions you can feel throughout your life as a mother, sometimes, they can end up becoming a little too much. After all, things in excess aren’t necessarily good for you—emotions are no exception to this. Now, this isn’t to say that feeling emotions like joy can be bad, as well as any other emotion. However, an excess of certain emotions can only bring about more trouble and problems for any mama. These can, in turn, affect the way that we live our lives in ways we don’t want them to. Such is the case with Postpartum Depression and Anxiety.
It’s normal for any mama to feel sad and worried throughout their lives, especially when it comes to their children. However, sometimes many mamas are more susceptible to feeling an excess of these two emotions after they give birth. Whether it’s feelings of sadness or worry, sometimes these two emotions can become more frequent and stronger than usual. This can then result in affecting a mama’s life more than they would like to. Of course, emotions are there to serve some sort of biological function—almost always to guide our actions. However, when worry and sadness become too much, such as in the case of post-partum anxiety and depression, a mama’s life can take a turn for the worse.
With that in mind, just what is postpartum depression and postpartum anxiety? How does it affect a mama’s life? What can we do about it? In this article, we’ll be tackling all those questions and we’ll give you a better look at these two conditions. By the time you’re done reading, you’ll at least be able to be more knowledgeable on these two post-partum conditions and be able to make more well-informed decisions should you or a fellow mama have it!
What is Postpartum Depression and Postpartum Anxiety
The term “Postpartum Depression” may be something that you may have heard before. Whether you’re a first-time mama or one with years of experience under her belt, it’s hard to be unfamiliar with this condition. This is because postpartum depression is a relatively common condition that a lot of mothers find themselves with after they deliver their baby.
Conversely, the term “Postpartum Anxiety” may sound a little foreign to you. While post-partum depression may be something a lot of mamas know about, postpartum anxiety may sound like something relatively new. You could say it is, as over time, studies have discovered that a lot of signs of what are associated with postpartum depression are actually more fitting of anxiety. As a result, postpartum anxiety was eventually seen as another condition that many mothers could experience after giving birth. What’s more, it’s also fairly common.
As their names suggest, postpartum depression would be depression a mother would experience after giving birth while postpartum anxiety is anxiety experienced after giving birth. However, these two conditions are more than just anxiety and depression. So, let’s get into the specifics of each condition and then compare them to one another.
Postpartum Depression
When you talk about postpartum depression, you talk about when a mama feels depression in the days following their baby’s delivery. While this condition can manifest itself any time after birth, it’s commonly observed between one to three weeks post-delivery. What’s more, these symptoms can persist for quite some time if not managed properly.
Much like depression, postpartum depression is mainly characterized by feelings of overwhelming sadness. Aside from this, a mama can also feel empty or tired for no reason at all. These characteristics typically lead to a mama feeling like they’re not good enough and lose the motivation to becoming a mother. Other symptoms of this condition also include the following:
- crying a lot (or more than you usually do)
- feeling overwhelmed easily
- ideations of self-harm or harming your baby
- losing your interest in the baby
- feelings of worthlessness, guilt, or being a terrible parent
- lack of or excess of sleep
- changes in appetite (whether it be eating too much or too little)
- feelings of anxiety
- headaches, body aches and pains, stomach pains
Despite the many different manifestations of postpartum depression, it’s fairly common for most mamas to at least experience the feeling of overwhelming sadness and inadequacy. Of course, every mama is different. However, it’s still easy to pick up on signs that may point to postpartum depression. But how does this happen in the first place?
It’s difficult to find one main cause for this condition. Instead, most doctors and studies can point to a number of risk factors that can predispose a mama to postpartum depression. For starters, the hormonal changes that occur after you give birth can be a factor that can lead you to experience postpartum depression. Aside from that, having a history of depressive episodes and also predispose you to experiencing this condition. Whatever the case may be, there are a lot of things that could lead you to experience postpartum depression. As such, it’s important to pick up on any out-of-the-ordinary behavioral changes as soon as possible so as to treat what could possibly be postpartum depression.
Postpartum Anxiety
While postpartum depression is mainly characterized by feelings of overwhelming sadness, postpartum anxiety is characterized by feelings of overwhelming worry. While it is normal for mamas to worry about their children, it can become too much if all you do is worry.
Just like a generalized anxiety disorder, postpartum anxiety can be observed when worrying takes a significant part of your day and ends up affecting the rest of your activities. You constantly feel on edge and think you or your baby are in constant danger. Other manifestations of postpartum anxiety may include the following:
- Sleep disturbances or difficulty sleeping
- Palpitations or an increased heart rate
- Stomach aches or nausea
- Difficulty breathing or shortness of breath
- A loss of appetite
- Being fidgety or restless
- Feeling tense
- Racing thoughts of irrational situations or fears that may not even happen
- Difficulty focusing
Just like postpartum depression, postpartum anxiety can manifest in a whole host of ways. However, the constant worrying, restlessness, and irrational thoughts of situations that may not happen are one of the most common characteristics of this condition. So, it’s still relatively easy to pick up on this condition.
Whatever the presentation of this anxiety may be, there are a number of factors that can be attributed to its manifestation. These factors are similar to that of postpartum depression. Factors include the hormone changes experienced after the delivery of the baby, experiencing incredibly stressful events, and having a history of an anxiety disorder. So, should any behavioral changes be observed, anything out of the ordinary at all, it’s good to pick up on these quickly and consider that a mama might be having postpartum anxiety.
The Difference Between Postpartum Depression and Anxiety
Based on what we discussed above, you might already have a hunch as to what the difference between postpartum depression and anxiety is. Chances are, your hunch might be right. Postpartum depression would involve you feeling more sad and down. It’s as if you’ve lost interest in a lot of things and you’re just tired. You’d be more sad and fall susceptible to negative thoughts and negative self-thought as well. Of course, not all people with depression manifest these things outwardly. However, it’s still common for it to be noticeable enough.
On the other hand, postpartum anxiety may involve a person being more on-edge. Think of it as them being more hyperreactive, with their thoughts racing and their heart rate elevated because they’re worrying a lot. People with postpartum anxiety also end up restless because they can’t sit still knowing that they believe something terrible could happen to them. However, much like postpartum depression, not all these anxiety symptoms are outwardly manifested. Despite this, it can still be noticeable with the characteristic behavioral changes.
However, while most people may make the mistake of thinking that they’re two different things, these two conditions can still happen at the same time. More specifically, a person with postpartum depression can also experience signs of postpartum anxiety. After all, anxiety can still be a part of the symptoms of postpartum depression. So, with that in mind, it’s also important to not think that it’s only one or the other if you see someone with these symptoms. You could, in fact, be experiencing both. As such, it’s still good to keep both in consideration if you or someone you know appears to be experiencing these conditions.
Management and Treatment
While these two conditions can sound scary to have, you’ll be relieved to know that there are ways to manage and treat them. Of course, we at edamama believe you shouldn’t self-diagnose. As such, it’s important to always consult with a doctor when it comes to things such as these. So, if you or a fellow mama start observing any changes in behavior that may fit that of postpartum depression or anxiety, it’s important to seek consultation with a doctor as soon as possible.
If the doctor does confirm that you have postpartum depression, postpartum anxiety, or both, they’ll run you through different treatment methods. For starters, your doctor will try to have you do some cognitive behavioral therapy. Also known as CBT, this treatment modality involves having you change the way you see and understand things. As postpartum depression and anxiety affect your thinking, many studies believe that helping you figure out those dysfunctions in thought would help you snap out of it. By noticing the patterns that lead you to feel overwhelmingly sad or anxious and “rewiring” your brain to avoid these thoughts, you may have a better chance of avoiding those situations once you’re aware of them
Aside from behavioral therapies, medication is also an option when it comes to treating postpartum depression and anxiety. Much like how you would treat any other case of depression and anxiety, medication to help with the balance of your neurotransmitters (which also play a role in emotions and cognition) may also help in managing these postpartum disorders. However, using medication may not be the go-to option for a lot of mamas as some of they may still be breastfeeding. You see, some of these medications may end up in the breastmilk and get consumed by your child. This can then affect their brains as well, which may not be developed enough to handle these medications. As such, it’s important to analyze the risk and whether these medications end up in the breastmilk or not.
Postpartum depression and anxiety are not uncommon conditions for mamas to experience after they give birth. Considering that factors like hormone changes, stressful events, and preexisting psychological conditions can predispose a mama to these two, it’s no surprise that it can happen a lot. Fortunately, despite how common it is, there are ways to treat them and make things easier for a mama as she goes along raising her newborn. All you need to do is have some presence of mind and pay attention to changes in your behavior—or have someone help you figure out if you are experiencing any behavioral changes. Because once you feel like you may be feeling or acting a little differently, it’s important to get some professional help as soon as possible so you don’t have to suffer from these conditions.
