Depression is a serious illness that can arise seemingly out of nowhere or shortly after giving birth. When left untreated, depression can continue on for years and even develop into a more serious form of the disease that will only be alleviated through continuing treatments such as therapy and medication. Currently, there has been an increase in the death rate of new mothers in South Africa who researchers believe may have been battling depression.
According to the article, “South Africa: Depression May Cause Deaths Among New Mothers, Says Expert,” by Sue Valentine, more than half of the new mothers in Hanover Park, a Cape Town suburb suffer from postpartum depression. This fact, coupled with the increasing problems of drug abuse, gang violence and crime in the area make it a dangerous place for women who are struggling with depression after giving birth. This trend continues throughout South Africa where poverty and other life hardships contribute to an increase in maternal depression.
When a new mother lives in poverty, it can become difficult for her to find access to help. Additionally, a life of poverty often means that these women have been witness to violence, or they may even have been a victim of a violent crime at some point during their life. Unfortunately, for many new mothers living in the poverty-stricken areas of South Africa, violence is a constant threat that can contribute to an increase in the amount of stress that a new mother feels after giving birth. This stress, coupled with the normal challenges of caring for a newborn can contribute to the development of depression.
Not only does poverty contribute to the violence that a woman suffers in her lifetime, but it also makes it hard for her to be able to care for herself physically and mentally after birth. This means that a new mother may not have access to nutritional foods, health care or even a wellness center that can check on her mental health. When a woman’s body becomes worn down, increased pain and fatigue can worsen the symptoms of depression.
In South Africa and other poverty-stricken areas, it is important to ensure that a woman is provided with the support that she needs in order to promote better mental health. Because depression can lead to suicide in new mothers, it is essential to make sure that all women have access to mental health care. By providing treatment centers in which women can seek help for their depression, women will be able to become resilient and begin to make the right decisions for their health and that of their newborn child.
When treating depression, it is important for a treatment center to provide a wide range of services that will provide care for new mothers and women in all areas of their lives. Because depression treatment is often centered on a combination of medication and therapy, counselors and doctors should be available to help a new mom to begin a treatment plan that will help her to begin to cope with her depression. When new mothers begin to have access to the type of care that they need to promote better health, then the entire community will benefit from mothers who are strong and capable of supporting the needs of their newborn baby.
About the Author: Paige Taylor writes for A Forever Recovery to help people find support groups and other recovering communities.
Posted by: Uticopa in Untagged on
Jun 02, 2011
A new series begins today on the subject of Depression. Find out all you need to know by following our exclusive articles, each tackling one aspect.
Much has been written in the media lately about the increasing incidence of depression – surely a sign of the stresses and strains of modern life. But, how do we know if we actually have it?
One of the biggest challenges facing mental health specialists in addressing depression is accurately diagnosing it in the first place. This is because depression can present vague and confusing symptoms so it is easy to see why a diagnosis can be missed. A depressed person might present a variety of non-specific physical and emotional symptoms and a doctor must be very thorough to determine a correct diagnosis of depression. In addition, the difficulty in accurate diagnosis is further compounded by the fact that many medical problems share the same symptoms of depression and in fact, some of these may directly be causing the depression.
Posted by: Uticopa in postnatal depression on
May 05, 2011
When Charlotte Perkins Gilman wrote that disturbing 19th-century novella called 'The Yellow Wallpaper', she could hardly have known that it would later become a classic of feminist fiction. Even less could she have realised that at its heart was a pioneering portrait of the trauma of postnatal depression.
As the book is being reissued by Virago this year, it is interesting to note that, unlike her heroine, the author herself managed to break free from the oppressive shackles of her mind.
But, what was it about Gilman's short story that so evoked the mental anguish of women a century ago? And, could vestiges of how men saw women in days gone by still linger on even today? She wrote the story in part to escape the mastery of male doctors and to become the mistress of her own destiny.
First of all, let's look at what led to Gilman conceiving the story in the first place. For many years the author suffered from a severe and continuous nervous breakdown tending to what was then termed melancholia. This led her to consult a noted specialist in nervous diseases. This ‘wise' man put her to bed and applied the rest cure, to which her still good physique responded so promptly that he concluded there was nothing much the matter with her at all. He therefore sent her home with solemn advice to live as domestic a life as far as possible, to ‘have but two hours' intellectual life a day', and ‘never to touch pen, brush or pencil again' as long as she lived. This was in 1887.
Posted by: Gillian Green in depression on
Apr 29, 2009
No-one can really understand how difficult it is to move into our British culture until we listen to those who have tried it. Sometimes life can be so overwhelming that mental health issues can crop up where there were none before - even in the relatively young.
Read the following story and let us know if it ‘rings any bells' with you. Have you experienced anything similar in your life?
Anawara, 39, a British Asian, has had periods of feeling sad and tired throughout her life but until recently was too ashamed to talk about it.
Posted by: Uticopa in postnatal depression on
Feb 06, 2009
We've all read about celebs who talk about suffering from post-natal depression (PND). In the old days, women in the news were often reluctant to discuss such problems, fearing they would be branded weak in a macho, male-dominated world. However, in recent times some well-known celebrities have spoken openly about their own PND. The list includes Sadie Frost (actress), Natasha Hamilton (former Atomic Kitten singer), Elle Macpherson (model), and TV presenters Melinda Messenger, Katie Price (aka Jordan) and Gail Porter. Additionally, American actress Brooke Shields has written a book about her own experience with PND. It's called ‘Down Came The Rain: A Mother's Story of Depression And Recovery'.
By speaking out, what all these women have done is help to lift some of the stigma associated with PND. Let's get a few facts.
What exactly is PND?
Post-natal depression or PND is the name given to depression that develops between one month and up to one year after the birth of a baby. It affects many women and can begin suddenly or develop gradually. However, it is important to distinguish postnatal depression (PND) from 'baby blues' and postnatal psychosis.
Posted by: Uticopa in postnatal depression on
Feb 05, 2009
I've been diagnosed with post-natal depression - why me?
It's not clear exactly what causes PND, although there are things that seem to increase the risk.
Like depression which occurs at any other time, PND doesn't have one definite cause - but it's likely to result from a combination of factors. A mixture of physical, biological and hormonal factors seem to put women at risk of experiencing depression following the birth of a baby including:
Posted by: Uticopa in worrying, anxiety on
Feb 03, 2009
When we reach that point in life when the middle years have passed, would we have done things differently if we had somehow gained the wisdom that comes from learning from our own mistakes?
They say that education is wasted on the young. When we are adolescent, suffused by swirling hormones and an intolerable need to impress our peers, how can we concentrate on learning those school subjects that will be so essential to our future life? How to show due diligence at schoolwork when the very act of striving for perfection brings a swathe of disdain and criticism from the very peers we so want to impress? We listen to school friends who say ‘why do I need to learn French? I'll never need that - I want to be a train-driver'.
The very fact of being a child, by definition, means that you can't possibly know or envisage a future, mature, life where unforeseen opportunities abound and hitherto undreamed of possibilities may require you to use those very skills that you disparaged so long ago.
At a recent seminar on bipolar disorder at St. Andrew's University, the personality Stephen Fry discussed his condition with psychiatric students and practitioners. He has also made a series of programmes for the BBC about his condition and how it famously manifested itself in 1995 when he walked out of the West End play Cellmates.
Other celebrities who also suffer from bipolar include Hollywood actors Richard Dreyfus and Carrie Fisher, and British comedians Tony Slattery and Jo Brand. It is interesting to note how sufferers working in the creative arts can diffuse their talents in such a positive way. Conversely, history is littered with undoubted sufferers who went undiagnosed: artists like Sylvia Plath, Virginia Woolf, Van Gogh and Hemingway.
There is an interesting character in Eastenders on BBC TV called Jean Slater (the mother of Stacey). In recent weeks, the storyline has followed Jean's personality fluctuations: from the highs when she was close to her son Sean, followed by the lows when he went away. It was only when Jean finally realised the seriousness of her condition that it was revealed she had bipolar disorder.
What exactly is bipolar disorder?
Posted by: Uticopa in Untagged on
Jan 07, 2009
Rather like home pregnancy-detector kits, a new on-line PND awareness kit has been developed, based on the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale, first published in the British Journal of Psychiatry in 1987. So, there's now a way for you to find out whether what you are experiencing are actual PND symptoms - and in the comfort of your own home.
The Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale is a set of questions designed to see if a new mother may have depression. The answers will not provide a diagnosis - for that you need to see a doctor or other health professional. The answers will tell you however, if you, or someone you know, has symptoms that are common in women with PND. As with all illnesses, if you have concerns that you, or someone you know, has PND, please consult a health professional.
Here is the questionnaire:
To complete this set of questions, mothers should mark the number next to the response which comes closest to how they have felt IN THE PAST 7 DAYS.
Posted by: Uticopa in Untagged on
Nov 25, 2008
At the age of thirty-five I was working at a residential home in Liverpool. Although I had worked there for several years, I had begun to feel that my life was like ground hog day. Every day seemed the same: no change, same old routine. My life was just so boring. I knew, deep down, that something was missing from my life but I didn’t know exactly what it was. Problems started to get worse.
Eventually I gave up my job and tried a different career in the hope that things might improve. But all I could get was a job working in a supermarket stacking shelves and unloading lorries. It soon became clear that this was no better. Some senior staff thought that I was over-qualified for the job I was doing and should be doing something else.
It was when I began to work nights that I felt strange. The dull and boring feelings set in again but this time with a vengeance. I was beginning to feel worse. I was being bullied by senior male staff and getting bad dreams in the day; these were recurrent and very real. They seemed always to involve people from my past, particularly two men who had raped me as a teenager. Over the months the dreams got worse and I was beginning to get suicidal ideas. I contemplated killing myself by cutting my wrists.
