What depression is she after having a baby?
Immediately after giving birth, many women begin to feel such a strong euphoria that they seem ready to love the whole white world. However, this mood does not last long. Absolutely different sensations come to replace: suddenly a state of anxiety and inexplicable irritability, then aggressiveness and causeless tearfulness rolls over. It would seem that a woman should have received exclusively positive emotions from the state of motherhood, but there it was ….
Anxiety, depression, fatigue, irritability, panic attacks, a sense of unreality of what is happening, poor sleep, loss of appetite and libido, helplessness in household chores, loss of love for your baby are all signs of a fairly common postpartum depression. And its consequence is that a woman ceases to experience joy from her own motherhood, ceases to monitor her appearance, avoids communication, and may even become addicted to drugs or alcohol.
Three types of postpartum crises are distinguished, these are:
postpartum spleen, which appears during the first few days after birth, when you want to cry, there is a feeling of oppression, insecurity, fear, self-doubt;
mild depression, which is accompanied by attacks of helplessness, loneliness, fear, and lasts from several days to a week;
chronic depression: bouts of anxiety, fear, when ordinary activities seem completely unbearable. Such depression develops during the first three months after childbirth and can persist for a whole year, and sometimes even three to four years.
By the way, modern medicine today considers depression as a natural reaction of the body to childbirth and motherhood. Therefore, a young mother should be mentally prepared in advance for the fact that after the birth of her baby, her feelings may become somewhat unstable and rapidly change in different directions: from joy to despair and vice versa. Their relatives should be warned about this so that they do not perceive such a state solely as the vagaries of a spoiled lady and help a woman survive this period as easily and quickly as possible.
So, you are under stress. What to do?
Remember that the onset of motherhood will require you to review the entire lifestyle,
as a result of which you will simply have to adapt to a lot. And if earlier, for example, you could not have imagined a day without a morning newspaper and regularly watching television programs, then with the appearance of a baby in your house you will have to forget about all this: you simply will not have time for this. And in order not to feel divorced from the whole world, listen to the radio (you can do this by doing any housework), and you will always be sufficiently informed about the most significant events taking place in politics, culture, and music.
Try to prioritize and do not try to keep the house in the same state; you simply don’t have enough strength to maintain an impeccable cleanliness. Encourage yourself that chaos reigned in your once so tidy house – a temporary phenomenon.
Do not forget that you just need to find time to be alone with yourself, to wander around the shops, look at a girlfriend or go to the beauty parlor to find balance and connection with the outside world. Therefore, do not be shy to at least occasionally ask your loved ones to sit with your child and do not take into account what
people think about you.
No less important for you after childbirth and rest. Try to set certain hours for rest, preferably if they have a daytime nap. In the event that you do not want to sleep, just relax, close your eyes and do not communicate with anyone at this time. Have a cup of mint or chamomile tea. These herbs have soothing properties. And limit your intake of caffeine, which increases nervousness.
While the baby is sleeping, read a good book. Reading is one of the best ways to avoid stress. Rent a comedy cassette. Laughter perfectly relieves stress.
Turn off your phone and take a hot bath with aromatic oils. Turn on pleasant music and ask your husband to give you the massage necessary to relieve muscle tension and improve your mood. And in order to enhance relaxation, add a few drops of aromatic oil to the massage oil.
The soothing properties are ylang-ylang, sandalwood, lemon, orange, lavender and chamomile oils. By the way, often a similar massage session can turn into a wonderful intimate love scene.
Take time to do gymnastics. It has already been proven that if you do gymnastics during the period of depression, then the emotional state improves much faster. And regular gymnastics reduces stress, fatigue, aggressiveness and depression, gives vigor and uplifting. In addition, exercises distract from everyday worries. Performing them, you can at least temporarily forget about your problems.
Often, the cause for depression can be the feeling that you have become a housewife. In this case, hire a nanny or send the child to a day nursery, and you immediately go to work. And most importantly – do not hesitate to consult a psychologist, no one will consider you abnormal. Remember that if you do not understand what is bothering you now, then it will be much more difficult to do this.