Janet Wilson, a Seattle hairdresser, said her husband was extremely patient as she struggled through postpartum depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress following a difficult and painful birth. Wilson still takes antidepressants and mood stabilizers, but her husband Bryan helped her through the worst of it. Women don't quickly forget their slog through the postpartum swamp but with support and treatment they can get back on high ground. I'm happier and more stable than I've ever been in my life. Experts aren't sure, but postpartum depression seems to follow a more erratic course, with a mix of good and bad days and an especially strong link with anxiety and physical complaints such as headache, says psychiatric specialist Rex Gentry.
Hormonal changes play a part.
But fathers and adoptive parents can develop postpartum mood disorders, too, so hormones aren't the whole answer. Other factors may include sleep deprivation, dashed expectations, a family history of depression, lack of social support and even the baby's temperament. One explanation is a surge in the stress hormone adrenaline, coupled with the brain's lowered tolerance for stimulation in the weeks after childbirth. Gentry said new parents typically have four to five times their normal sensitivity to sound, which helps alert them to their babies' distress. At the same time, the brain's danger sensor, the locus ceruleus, becomes overly sensitive and churns out extra adrenaline in response to even innocuous sounds.