Postpartum anxiety disorder

Although many mothers often hear about postpartum depression known as a widespread postpartum disorder, there are other mental postpartum disorders.

6%-30% of mothers develop postpartum anxiety disorder. Anxiety is an emotion that occurs when we feel threatening. The threat perceived by these patients doesn’t tie to particular and real danger. Patients have the feeling that something else might go wrong although there are no concrete signs.

Anxiety can result in many physical, mental and emotional reactions.

Constantly worrying. Worries about the health of your child or fears with low probability of occurrence like the fear of dropping the child.

Unwanted thoughts. Persistent unwanted thoughts such as the case presented above are known as intrusive thoughts. Concerning to the case presented above, there are no apparent reasons for dropping your child while holding it in your arms. This example represents an intrusive thought.

Sense of anxiety. Some mothers claim having an intuition for something bad is going to happen although there are references only for the contrary.

Sleep irregularity. Mothers with newborn babies are usually confronted with sleep deprivation because of needs of their babies and baby care. But sleep irregularities meant here develop for no obstacles to sleep. Sleep irregularities can also include increasing sleep duration.

Changes in appetite. Weight loss related to decreased appetite or weight gain related to increased appetite. Both are relevant and important for your mental health.

Sense of restlessness. Some mothers experience the feeling of being unable to sit still or being on edge. According to these mothers, they may need to move to reduce their feelings of restlessness.

Forgetfulness. It can be related to reduced effective hormones and reduced sleep duration during pregnancy.

Physical signs. Bodily tension, decreased pain tolerance

Postpartum anxiety usually focuses on the baby. The delivery is one of the main factors triggering obsessive compulsive disorders. Furthermore it may cause aggravation of preexisting intrusive thoughts or trigger other obsessions associated with the child and hygiene. Furthermore this disorder leads to development of extreme thoughts about the own weight and body image in the period during and after pregnancy.