They appear around the fifth day after the birth of the baby, but disappear after a few weeks. Lees alerted the audience to the fact that the term PPD does not truly correspond to what the disorder is. PPD is actually a full-blown anxiety disorder with a secondary depression disorder. Symptoms of serious PPD are intensified versions of the maternity blues, but instead of feeling merely sadness, the women feel despair, a despondency and acute anxiety. You hear them say, 'I feel so overwhelmed, so out of control.
Lees shed new light on other symptoms, too.
She said that professionals have thought that PPD became evident within the first few months, but in her observation, the more accurate time-frame is anywhere up to the end of the baby's first year. In postpartum psychosis, a very rare version of PPD, symptoms include extreme insomnia paired with persistant agitation. It is in no way normal to go without sleep for days at a stretch and feel okay about it. It's important for family members and friends of new moms to be aware of PPD symptoms because women in the throes of PPD usually don't talk about it. First, they're ashamed they're not coping.