10 Things I ’ve Learned as a Therapist and a Mom about Perinatal Mood and Anxiety Disorders

I’ve been a mental health therapist for over 10 years and in the social work profession for more than 20. I have been pregnant 8 times, with 4 living children. I consider myself to be pretty self-aware, intelligent, and inquisitive. And yet… I had some form of perinatal mood and anxiety disorders (PMADs) with each of my pregnancies. I just didn’t know it. Oh, sure, I got sad and I got angry and with my older son, I couldn’t let myself fully bond to him until he was 9 months old, but I was fine, right? I even took medication, but that’s normal, right? I was introduced to PMADs last year when a friend of a friend posted about it on social media. I was intrigued. This was a thing? As I learned more about it, I realized many things that I didn’t know before, both for me personally and professionally. Why had I never heard these things before? It was very eye opening and made so much of what I had experienced make more sense. So here are 10 things that I learned about PMADs. It’s not just “the blues.” It is common for people to feel down or sad after birth. You just pushed a baby out after 9 months! This takes a toll on your body and mind. But sometimes it lingers and even gets worse. This is not as common. It’s not just depression. Depression, anxiety, bipolar, OCD, and psychosis can all occur. That’s why the term PMADs, which stands for perinatal mood and anxiety disorders, is becoming the more accepted term for these collective disorders. I wasn’t sad,...
Source: World of Psychology - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Tags: Parenting Personal Pregnancy Women's Issues Birth trauma perinatal anxiety disorder perinatal mood disorder Postpartum Disorder Source Type: blogs