Postpartum Anxiety, Depression, OCD, & PTSD

What are Perinatal Mood Disorders?

Perinatal Mood and Anxiety Disorders

Growing your family can be a wonderful, joyous occasion. But for one in five new parents, it is both met with joy and depression, or joy and anxiety.

Baby Blues can last for the first two weeks after the baby is born. If new feelings of depression, anxiety, or anger come up or persist after that period, it doesn’t fit in the definition of baby blues.

Postpartum depression, anxiety, OCD, and psychosis all fall under the umbrella of perinatal mood and anxiety disorders. Symptoms can start during pregnancy, soon after birth, or months later. Postpartum depression is the most common complication of childbirth. Perinatal mood and anxiety disorders are common and treatable.

Read on to find out more about the most common postpartum challenges and find out how psychotherapy can help.

Postpartum Depression

Postpartum Depression can look like:

Not feeling connected to the baby
Having a low mood for most of the day, most days
Surprising or uncharacteristic anger towards another
Trouble falling asleep or staying asleep, that isn’t sleep disruption from baby’s needs.
Feeling guilty or ashamed
Thinking or worrying that your baby would be better off without you
Having thoughts that scare you or that you don’t like

Postpartum OCD

Postpartum OCD can look like:

Images and thoughts that come “out of the blue” that are frightening or worrying in nature that are hard to dismiss and often repeat themselves.
Horror or anxiety about the frightening images or thoughts
Understanding or some awareness of these thoughts being different or bizarre or unlikely to come true.
Hypervigilance about protecting the baby
Preoccupation with germs and cleanliness
Fear of being left alone with the baby

Postpartum Anxiety

Postpartum anxiety can look like:

Intrusive thoughts- thoughts that you don’t like, about harm happening to you or loved ones, that you can’t seem to stop.
Constant or near-constant worry
Racing thoughts
Trouble sleeping or eating that is not explained by baby’s schedule
Feeling “jumpy” or struggling to sit still
Physical symptoms like nausea, dizziness, feeling overheated, shortness of breath
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Postpartum PTSD

Not everything goes according to plan. When there is a traumatic experience during pregnancy, birth, or after baby’s arrival, postpartum post-traumatic stress disorder can develop. Postpartum PTSD can look like:

Flashbacks and intrusive thoughts and images about the traumatic experience
Avoiding stimuli that reminds you of the traumatic event (for example, the smell of the hospital or the beeping of a heart monitor if there was a medical trauma or traumatic birth)
Startling easily, hypervigilance, irritability
Trouble sleeping and eating
Feeling detached from yourself, your family, your baby.

How Can Psychotherapy Help with Postpartum Issues?

Many of our associates have firsthand experience with postpartum issues and/or extensive experience and training helping people with these challenges.

Psychotherapy has been shown to be effective for postpartum women with depression and should be considreed a frontline treamtment.
Treatment approaches like Cognitive Behavioral Therapy have been shown to help postpartum women with anxiety and depression.
CBT and other forms of psychotherapy are endorsed by a variety of women’s mental health advocates for the treatment of postpartum OCD.
Trauma focused psychotherapies have been noted as effective treatments of postpartum PTSD in prominent mental heath journals.

Contact us today to schedule an introductory disscusion to see if we can find a therapist who is a fit for your needs and schedule.

If you need to talk to someone immediately the National Maternal Mental Health Hotline is a 24/7, free, confidential hotline for pregnant and new moms in English and Spanish.

National Maternal Mental Health Hotline: 1-833-943-5746

Location of our Psychotherapy Practice

Rock Creek Therapy is located near Dupont Circle in Washington, DC.

We also conduct online therapy for residents of D.C., Maryland, Virginia, Michigan, Florida, Tennessee, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, and Illinois.

1350 Connecticut Avenue NW, Suite 611
Washington, DC 20036 United States
Directions

Contact Rock Creek Therapy

If you have questions or if you’d like to discuss therapy options contact us at:

(202) 630-8120 or email [email protected]
Therapy inquiries or to schedule an appointment

For more about services and therapy session pricing please visit the Psychotherapy Services page

1350 Connecticut Avenue NW, Suite 611
Washington, DC 20036

(202) 630-8120

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