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By Livia Gamble
Postnatal anxiety and depression are more common than you think.
In our latest Facebook live chat for TMB TV, sponsored by WaterWipes, we spoke to Narelle Horwitz, a perinatal psychologist, doula and the founder of Perinatal Wellness – a practice in Sydney dedicated to supporting the mental health and wellbeing of women through pregnancy and the postnatal period.
Narelle says anxiety is the most common reason women are coming to see her.
“I did a review of my files at the end of last year and looked at why people were coming in, and anxiety was the number one reason people were seeking me out,” says Narelle.
She adds: “Statistically, one in five women, both in pregnancy and postnatally actually will suffer from anxiety. Whereas depression is more one in 10 in pregnancy and one in seven postnatally.”
So what is postnatal depression and anxiety, and what are some of the common signs to look out for?
WATCH THE FULL FACEBOOK CHAT HERE
Narelle says anxiety is feeling on edge. “You get that physical component of being restless. A lot of people will feel like their heart’s racing, or they’ve got the butterflies in their tummy.”
Your thinking can become altered as well.
“So you’ll notice that your mind is racing, and you might be worrying a lot,” says Narelle. “But anxiety is actually quite a generic term for a whole range of conditions that people will experience.”
It’s also possible to be suffering from postnatal anxiety and postnatal depression at the same time.
“They often do co-exist. So for a lot of women, they’ll notice they’re feeling anxious and depressed at the same time,” says Narelle.
“Generally, I look at anxiety as somebody who’s over-functioning, their body’s on edge – their mind is really busy. They’re doing a lot of work and trying to avoid specific situations. So they’re really busy, anxious women.”
Women who are suffering from depression tend to be “under-functioning”.
“They’re really struggling with motivation – they’re struggling with being able to get out of bed and to do those general life tasks,” says Narelle.
Another really common sign of postnatal depression that you might not know is rage.
In fact, a study from the University of British Columbia shows that anger is a significant feature in postpartum mood disturbances.
“Often people are coming in, and we’ll talk about postnatal rage,” says Narelle.
“I think that’s probably one of the more common complaints that women come in and talk to me about when really they’re experiencing depression.”
But the thoughts women have are also affected.
“With depression, those thoughts can be quite dark and quite bleak. So, ‘I’m not good enough.’ You know, ‘People don’t like me’, ‘Why did I do this?’
“And then for people with anxiety, they’ll often have more of that fear-based worry type thinking.”
Anxiety becomes a problem when your behaviour is different from what you would like to be doing.
“If a woman’s feeling comfortable with what she’s doing, then it’s often not a problem – but when it starts being, ‘Oh, you know what? I’m noticing that I’m checking on my baby all the time’ or ‘I’m not letting anybody else hold my baby because I’m scared that they might kiss them’ or ‘I can’t go and meet with other mums.’
“So this idea that ‘this is what I would like to be doing, and this is what I’m actually doing’ – and noticing that your behaviour is different to what you want is probably a sign that anxiety is starting to become quite a problem.”
Something women should be aware of, which can often be confused for depression, is the baby blues.
“They [the baby blues] come in around day three to day five and last for the next few days,” says Narelle. “It’s caused by the significant hormone drop from being pregnant and then not being pregnant.
“There’s also some sleep deprivation that kicks in around day three – babies are generally quite unsettled while they’re waiting for your milk to come in if you’re breastfeeding. So you’ll be quite sleepless, and baby will probably be quite grumpy.”
Understanding that this is an entirely normal experience is essential.
“We often don’t prepare for this postnatal period,” says Narelle. “And it’s really, really important because if we’re looking at all these transitions, this is another one of them.”
Narelle’s biggest piece of advice for new mums in those early days is to keep the pressure off.
“If you’ve got family and friends that are wanting to come and visit, I think one of the best things you can do to prepare is not put any pressure on yourself about having to entertain people.
“Let them know that if they want to come, you’re going to tell them like half an hour in advance whether or not it works.
“And it might be that you’re asleep the whole time they’re there, or you’re going to go and feed the baby in another room if you’re not comfortable feeding in front of them.
“That can take the pressure off.”
If you or someone you know might be suffering from postnatal depression PANDA has a free national hotline available Mon to Sat, 9am – 7.30pm AEST/AEDT) . Call 1300 726 306.
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