Just this past week a very close friend of mine delivered a beautiful baby boy. And while I have no reason to suspect that she would have postpartum depression the idea of it had crossed my mind and so I decided to look into it. Mayo clinic had a definition of postpartum depression on their website: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/postpartum-depression/ds00546
I also found another site that answered common questions and gave the warning signs and symptoms of postpartum depression. It answered questions such as how do I know the difference between common 'baby blues' and actual postpartum depression: http://www.womenshealth.gov/faq/depression-pregnancy.cfm.
And as I thought about it I remembered how Tom Cruise had attacked Brooke Shields about taking anti-depressants after giving birth, so I found a site that told her story about her struggle with postpartum depression: http://www.webmd.com/depression/postpartum-depression/features/brooke-shields-depression-struggle.
Does anyone know of someone that had struggled with postpartum depression? Where you close enough with them to see any of the signs?
After my brother and I were born my mother developed postpartum depression. My brother was 3 months old when he passed away, and my dad basically had to take on both parental roles until my mom was capable of handling her role again. I know depression is a biological factor which is genetic, but in my intro to psych class I found out that postpartum depression is not hereditary, which I was relieved about.
I checked out the women's health website and looked at the symptoms women face, my mother did not try and hurt her kids, but tried overdosing. When I was reading about Brooke Shields and her troubles with postpartum depression, it basically sums up my mom, but I think she told me that it developed when I was born, I was very premature and had to stay in intensive care and then the death of my brother made her go overboard. Futhermore, as a teenager my mother had depression, so I think she developed postpartum depression fairly easy even though the website states that 1 in 4 women out 1000 births will develop this type of depression.
I found a site that can be helpful if anyone knows someone with postpartum depression and what they can do to help. Here are 6 steps to follow. Check it out.
http://www.ehow.com/how_2088455_support-someone-postpartum-depression.html