Postpartum Psychosis
Signs and Symptoms
An uncommon but deadly mental health disease called postpartum psychosis can strike women soon after giving birth. It usually appears within the first two weeks following delivery and is a medical emergency that needs to be treated right away.
Psychosis following childbirth differs from other postpartum mood disorders such depression or anxiety. Hallucinations, delusions, and distorted thinking are some of the psychotic symptoms that characterize this severe form of mental disease. Rapid mood changes, confusion, and paranoia are additional symptoms that postpartum psychosis mothers may have.
Although the exact causes of postpartum psychosis are unknown, there is evidence that the chance of acquiring the disorder may be increased by hormonal changes, genetics, and a family history of mental illness.
The symptoms of postpartum psychosis may include:
Delusions or hallucinations: Mothers may experience false beliefs or see or hear things that are not real.
Confusion: Mothers may feel disoriented and have difficulty thinking or making decisions.
Rapid mood swings: Mothers may experience extreme highs and lows in their mood.
Paranoia: Mothers may feel like they are being watched or followed, or that someone is trying to harm them or their baby.
Suicidal or homicidal thoughts: Mothers may have thoughts of harming themselves or their baby.
It's cruicial to seek out treatment right away for postpartum psychosis because it's a medical emergency. Therapy, medicine, and hospitalization are all possible forms of treatment.