A study by a psychiatrist Murcia warns that up to 10 or 15% of mothers and fathers suffering from the disease.

Stress, insomnia and insecurity are three problems that many mothers may suffer after giving birth. It’s a cocktail that, in addition to other conditions, can lead to postpartum depression. But this problem is not only exclusive to them. Parents also increasingly involved in the upbringing of their children, may suffer. “The changing roles explain this trend,” says psychiatrist Belen Hernandez Herrera Murcia, Mallorca Manacor Hospital.

In addition, parents enjoy a much shorter leave than mothers, and the effort to balance work and tasks related to the children worsens the feeling of anxiety and insomnia. Several investigations suggest the existence of a postpartum depression in men. One of the latest is the Pulson Professor, Faculty of Medicine of Eastern Virginia (USA), who says the problem affects 10% of new parents.

The psychiatrist Belen Hernandez also has studied the depression that appears after the baby’s arrival. In the case of mothers, he notes, the incidence reaches 15%. In reality, the disease is under diagnosed. “It’s something that has always existed, but now that we’re detecting more, as with other psychiatric illnesses.”

Postpartum depression symptom arises in the case of women, the main affected “by the” guilt “that generates them” the feeling they are enjoying their motherhood, that they are not happy and they should be. “Stress, anxiety, insecurity, feelings of “worthlessness”, blocks these people from enjoying them and pulls them to depression. A psychosocial factors bind “the hormonal changes that occur during childbirth and postpartum.” That is, there is a physiological basis. The problem is that while in other women these hormonal changes are reflected only in the early days and a tiredness that ends up happening in these other mothers the situation degenerates into a depression.

The idea that the drop in estrogen and progesterone affect the appearance of a depressed state is not new. There may also be related to changes that occur in neurotransmitters. Specifically, Hernandez points to the possible influence of oxytocin, which acts as a neurotransmitter and as a number of investigations is related to what some call the ‘instinct’ maternal.

Some symptoms can help detect the problem: sadness, inability to enjoy the child and in general things that were pleasurable before, insomnia, guilt, anxiety, fatigue and stress.

Little research

There looked to many women with this disease and reviewed the published literature on the subject. Their findings, outlined in the X National Congress of Psychiatry, suggest that postpartum depression often goes undiagnosed, and it is a disease still little investigated. Belen Hernandez has identified several risk factors that increase the risk of this type of depression: lack of family support or partner and, in particular, a history of depression. Everybody who has experienced this disease is very probable that falls to the pressure from caring for a child, especially if you’re new mother. They can also influence the economic problems or conflicts between partners. Dr. Hernandez says that postpartum depression is under diagnosed and, moreover, is often detected late. The guilt felt by many women with this disease leads them to delay their visit to the doctor. When you decide to consult with the psychiatrist, the treatment comes too late.

Treatment time

This treatment usually happens by inhibitors antidepressants and serotonin reuptake. Diagnosing depression time is crucial because the disease can lead to recurrent thoughts of death and suicide. In fact, some of the patients he has treated Dr. Hernandez had attempted suicide. But to detect cases early, it is also necessary that the very professional conscience.