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PPD: Is it Predictable?

By October 5, 2008 - 5:43pm
 
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My daughter asked me this question that I thought I'd pose to you:

Can you predict ahead of time who would have postpartum depression? Is this an inherited disease, or something no one knows the cause of?

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My daughter and I were discussing why some new mothers would be prone to PPD and such cases as Andrea Yates.

October 6, 2008 - 4:34pm
Expert

No one is immune to postpartum depression – it can happen to anyone regardless of their psychiatric history. There are, however, high risk factors. Among others, some of these factors are a personal and/or family history of: depression or other mood disorder, anxiety, eating disorder, alcoholism, or substance abuse. If the woman is isolated for hours every day with the baby, if her emotional or physical support is poor, or if she has chronic sleep deprivation these can all make her more vulnerable, especially if she has a biochemical tendency toward depression. I hope this helps.

Shoshana Bennett, Ph.D.
Author, Postpartum Depression For Dummies
http://ClearSky-Inc.com

October 6, 2008 - 1:56pm
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