Baby Blues or Postnatal Depression?

All new mums are going to feel tired, anxious and weepy at some point. Not only is your body going through huge physical and hormonal changes but your also having to look after this tiny little baby and you aren’t getting much sleep. The baby blues effect up to 80% of new mums however sometimes it can be far more serious.

 Depression is often split into three groups, mild, moderate and severe.

Mild depression is diagnosed if you feel generally down or show a loss of interest in your relationships and hobbies and other activities you previously enjoyed and three other symptoms. Mild depression is not usually diagnosed and you can go about your day fairly normally.

Moderate depression is diagnosed if you feel generally down or show a loss of interest in your relationships and hobbies and other activities you previously enjoyed and five other symptoms. With moderate depression you may find it hard to carry out everyday activities and may often find yourself distracted.

Severe depression is diagnosed if you feel generally down or show a loss of interest in your relationships and hobbies and other activities you previously enjoyed and seven other symptoms. Suffers of severe depression are usually not able to complete normal activities and may have distressing thoughts and increased difficulty concentrating.

Symptoms

• Feeling down
• Loss of interest in activities you used to find enjoyable
• Feeling tired and lacking energy – severe sufferers may even find getting out of bed difficult.
• Difficulty sleeping – can’t get to sleep or waking at various intervals in the night or waking early and not being able to resume sleep
• Crying for no apparent reason
• Change in appetite – eating more or less
• Physical aches such as headaches
• Feeling stuck in a hole – lack of motivation and a feeling that things are getting too much and you will never be able to deal with it all  
• Constantly feeling anxious for no good reason
• Decreased time spent concentrating on one thing
• Feeling out of control.
• Feeling alone or rejected – lack of interest in relationships or feeling that your partner of children have rejected you
• Feeling overwhelmed by life
• Lack of interest in sex
• Feeling guilty about everything – always worrying about your baby
• Strange or scary thoughts about bad things happening to your baby

Treatment

DO NOT BE AFRAID TO ASK FOR HELP.

Tell someone, your partner, gp or a family member. Depression is curable and is nothing to be ashamed of. 10 – 15% of mothers experience it. You are not a bad mother. The sooner you tell someone the sooner you can start getting treatment and enjoying being a mum.