LADIES STILL SING THE BLUES
FOR MANY NEW MOMS, POST-PARTUM DEPRESSION BEGINS AFTER THE  MEDICALLY-
DESIGNATED TIME PERIOD.  FOR THESE WOMEN, THE ONSET OF LATE PPD SIGNALS A
LONELY, FRIGHTENING AND MISUNDERSTOOD TIME. TFG IS HERE TO TELL YOU THAT
YOU ARE NOT ALONE AND YOU CAN GET HELP.

According to the American Medical Association, post-partum depression can only be classified as such if it occurs
between 1 and 12 months after the delivery of your baby. Great. Good to know, right?  Well, what is it called when
those more-than-baby-blues rear their nasty little heads at 14 or 15 months postpartum?

It simply doesn’t stand to reason that we make it through that first year relatively unscathed only to be hit hard after our babe’s first piece of birthday cake. But that’s exactly when things can break down for new moms—especially if breastfeeding has recently subsided and a menstrual cycle has resumed.

The panic of year one has waned; everyone has made it through and there are deep breaths all around.  Deep breaths that, for mom, can summon months and months of pent up fear, frustration and anxiety: a sobering recipe for a unique flavor of depression.

Veronica D. of Papillion, NE,  knows this strange tale all too well. Her depression began creeping in at around ten months after the birth of her son, but wasn’t full-blown until he was 14 months old. By then she says, “I didn’t know if I was going just plain crazy or if there was some sort of relationship between my mental state and the birth of my son. So much time had passed that I initially brushed the whole thing off to ‘hysteria’ and being just flat-out overwhelmed.”

She was fortunate to have an OB who could see that bending the 12 month mark for PPD made sense in her case. And she was treated appropriately. She says: “The right meds changed my life! I was also working with an amazing therapist to discuss the issues specific to my experience as a mother that were causing my depression. I was so relieved to be taken seriously.”

Fortunately, a growing circle of mental health service providers are broadening the definition of post-partum depression to include any woman who is pregnant, has miscarried, has had an abortion, an interrupted pregnancy or has recently weaned a child from breastfeeding, regardless of how many previously non-complicated pregnancies and/or postpartum adjustments she has had.

A practitioner at Depression After Deliver (a sub-site on www.charityadvantage.com) says that “… with early intervention and good medical/psychiatric intervention, these illnesses are treatable and prognosis is excellent.” And to, “…seek help from someone specializing in these disorders.”

It's commonly believed that most women have never experienced anything like this at any other time in their lives and therefore have no real framework for dealing with it, particularly when they are ‘out of range’ for a typical PPD diagnosis. In fact, this may be the last thing a woman thinks is going on.

According to Depression After Delivery: “There are multiple causes for mood and anxiety disorders [post partum]- hormonal imbalance, alteration in brain chemistry, stress, isolation etc...Currently, hormones are receiving attention in the search for causes of pregnancy and postpartum mood and anxiety disorders.”

While there is no clinical definition of ‘late onset PPD’ as of yet, there is a rising tide of its recognition and suffering moms are beginning to ride the wave to relief.

For more information, go to www.charityadvantage.com/depressionafterdelivery/Home.asp
www.mothering.com (PPD forum)—Michele OBrien

Michele OBrien is the mother of two rockin' little girls and wife to one hip husband. She's currently a student of nursing and midwifery, a former Bloomberg TV exec and is usually pretty exhausted.