Table of contents:
- What is the difference baby blues and postpartum depression?
- What are the signs and symptoms of postpartum depression?
- How do you deal with postpartum depression?
- 1. Stay away from things that are horror and terrible
- 2. Don't rely too much on other people's tips
- 3. Don't overwhelm yourself with piling up tasks
- 4. Keep away from negative people
- 5. Know when to seek help
About 50% of women experience mild depression after childbirth. This is perfectly normal. Your body has just gone through the emotional and physical changes, including the physical and mental stress of carrying your baby in the belly for nine months. What's important is that you don't let these emotional ups and downs take over your life. If this happens, you may be in danger of a serious condition called postpartum depression.
What is the difference baby blues and postpartum depression?
You must have heard the term baby blues, which is often used to describe the condition of mothers who are stressed and lightly depressed due to hormonal changes after childbirth. Baby blues is not the same as postpartum depression. Baby blues usually appears two days after delivery, because the pregnancy hormones are suddenly decreased making the body and mood You changed too.
Baby blues it usually peaks about four days after the baby is born, and you will begin to improve within two weeks, when your hormones are back to normal. You may also experience baby blues for a full year after giving birth, but the stress and depression experienced is usually only mild.
However, if you are still severely depressed after more than two weeks from giving birth, you may have postpartum depression.
What are the signs and symptoms of postpartum depression?
Some of the symptoms often experienced by women with postpartum depression are:
- Insomnia
- Crying suddenly
- Depression so that they are unable to carry out their daily activities
- Thoughts of hurting yourself or even hurting the baby
- Feeling worthless and hopeless
- Loss of energy
- Feeling weak and very tired
- Loss of appetite, or even weight loss
If you experience any of the following symptoms, tell your doctor. Postpartum depression is not something that can be ignored.
How do you deal with postpartum depression?
1. Stay away from things that are horror and terrible
Mothers who suffer from postpartum depression are very emotional. Whatever they see, they will relate to their own condition. Therefore, they sometimes find it difficult to control their thoughts and even get trapped in their own imagination. It is important to surround yourself with beautiful and positive things to prevent your mind from wandering into bad things. Stay away from horror films, mystery novels, suspenseful stories, and do not read or watch crime news for a while.
2. Don't rely too much on other people's tips
Whether it's information you get from websites or magazines, or from mommies forum On the internet, remember that not all advice and tips that have worked for other mothers will work for you as well. Depressive conditions for each mother are different, so how to deal with it may not be the same. Obsessing over advice and tips can actually make you worse off when you don't see tangible results.
3. Don't overwhelm yourself with piling up tasks
Taking care of children, taking care of a husband, taking care of the house, taking care of work, and so on. If you do have a lot of work to do, don't burden yourself with all of this work if your psychological condition doesn't allow it. Don't hesitate to ask for help from your husband, family, or household assistants. If you feel tired and really need sleep, but dirty laundry is still piling up, go to sleep. Your health is more important than a pile of clothes that you can wash the next day.
4. Keep away from negative people
Not everyone will support you and understand your condition. Maybe some of them even blame you for feeling depressed when you were just gifted with a cute baby, or for not being able to fulfill your duties as a mother, wife, and career woman at the same time because depression is holding you back. Instead of listening to things that make you feel guilty, spend time only with people who understand your situation and support you in a positive way. It's also important to find other mothers who have been in the same situation, so that you can share with each other.
5. Know when to seek help
You can get help from other people to deal with postpartum depression, but the bottom line is that you have to be active yourself and be determined to get through this dark time. Without motivation to "heal" yourself, it will be difficult to beat depression. If your symptoms get worse and you feel you can't handle them on your own, seek professional help from a therapist or psychologist immediately.
