Hormones and women’s mental health are deeply connected. Changes during the menstrual cycle, pregnancy, and menopause can significantly affect mood and emotional well-being, making it important to understand and support mental health through these shifts.
While postpartum depression and anxiety get more attention, symptoms can actually begin during pregnancy due to early hormonal changes. In some cases, untreated depression or anxiety may pose more risk to both mother and baby than certain low-risk medications.This is important to have a thorough discussion about in order to be able to make an informed decision. Pregnancy is a beautiful thing, but it can also be a wild ride!
Women's Mental Health
PMS isn’t always just cramps and cravings. Sometimes it feels like everything suddenly falls apart—you’re irritated, overwhelmed, questioning yourself, and it can feel scary when it all fades after your period. You might wonder if this is just something you have to go through every month.
After having a baby, those feelings can hit even harder. You may feel disconnected, anxious, exhausted but unable to rest, or even experience intrusive thoughts that don’t feel like you. It can make what’s “supposed” to be a happy time feel heavy and confusing.
But you’re not alone, and you’re not failing. Hormones are powerful, but they don’t control you. You don’t have to suffer through this or wait it out—getting help is a strong, loving choice for both you and your child.
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Pre-menstrual Dysphoric Disorder (PMDD)
Someone with PMDD experiences significant mood and physical symptoms that occur during the premenstrual phase of the menstrual cycle and substantially impact their daily life. The diagnosis of PMDD involves the presence of specific criteria including:
The timing of symptoms, which must start in the week before the onset of menstruation and improve within a few days after the onset. The severity of symptoms including at least five of the following:
- A least one mood-related symptom, such as marked mood swings, irritability, depressed mood, or increased anxiety
- Decreased interest in usual activities
-Difficulty concentrating
-Lethargy or lack of energy
-Changes in appetite
-Sleep disturbances
-Physical symptoms like breast tenderness or swelling, joint or muscle pain, bloating, or weight gain
Postpartum Depression
Postpartum depression occurs after childbirth and involves persistent feelings of sadness, emptiness, hopelessness, and feelings of inadequacy. It typically begins within the first few weeks after childbirth but can develop anytime within the first year. It is more severe and long-lasting than the “baby blues,” which are common and transient mood changes after giving birth. It can look similar to a typical major depressive episode, but in postpartum can also specifically include:
- Difficulty bonding with your baby
- Withdrawing from family and friends
- Overwhelming exhaustion
- Frequent crying spells, often unprovoked
- Intense reactivity, irritability or anger
- Fear that you aren’t capable of being a good mother
- Thoughts of harming yourself or your baby
Postpartum Anxiety
Postpartum anxiety occurs after childbirth and involves persistent and excessive worry, fear, or unease. It is different from general worry or the stress that comes with new parenthood, can be very distressing, and can make adjusting to your new role feel impossible. Postpartum anxiety typically includes:
- Constant worry about your baby’s health and safety
- Obsessive or intrusive thoughts or fears, often irrational but no less disturbing
- Difficulty sleeping related to intense worry that something could happen to your baby overnight
- Feeling overwhelmed
- Intense reactivity, irritability or anger
- Difficulty getting things done because you feel the lack of your full attention will jeopardize your baby’s safety
Postpartum Mood Disorders
Postpartum mood disorders encompass a broader range of mental health conditions that can occur after childbirth. This category includes postpartum depression and postpartum anxiety, but also other mood disorders like postpartum bipolar disorder (manic or depressive episodes after childbirth), postpartum obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and postpartum psychosis (a severe and rare condition characterized by delusions, hallucinations, and disorganized thinking). Postpartum mood disorders can vary in their symptoms and severity but generally involve a disruption in mood, emotions, thoughts, and behaviors.
It’s important to note that postpartum mood disorders are not a reflection of personal weakness or inadequacy as a parent. They are believed to result from a combination of hormonal, genetic, and environmental factors, but are heavily influenced by the fluctuation in hormones experienced after childbirth.
