Recommendations for helping women with postpartum depression
Depression symptoms are:
- constantly bad mood, anxiety, apathy, lethargy, melancholy;
- daily mood changes, “morning is much worse than the evening”;
- you don’t want to communicate with your husband, friends, relatives;
- appetite decreases, sleep deteriorates, nothing pleases, you do not want to do anything;
- you have a feeling of guilt, a feeling that no one needs you;
- chronic diseases are often exacerbated;
- self-esteem decreases, attention is absent-minded, thoughts are full of bad forecasts.
10 tips for coping with postpartum depression
Get enough sleep.
Do not miss an opportunity to take a nap during the day when your baby is asleep. To do this, involve all the resources: simplify life as much as possible, ask your mother or mother-in-law to come to you for a couple of hours a day, ask your husband to shopping and cleaning.
Do not try to do everything.
No matter how much you want to be an ideal mother, wife, you are unlikely to succeed. Better not to do housework than to deplete the nervous system. Calm down and postpone the cleaning to a more convenient time. The main thing is not to torment yourself with thoughts that everything should be perfect. Everything will be fine, but maybe a little later.
Take time for yourself every day.
Schedule a little “fun” activity every day: a short coffee meeting with a friend, a shopping trip, reading a book or magazine, exercise or yoga class. Get distracted from worries about the child and home for at least half an hour a day. It is very important.
Add light.
Go for a walk when it is light outside. In the evening, the apartment should well lit – this helps to overcome the bad mood.
Say the problems out loud.
If you quarrel with your husband or relatives, say the whole thing out loud again. In most cases, the problem is not as terrible as it seems at first glance.
Discuss your feelings.
Many people think that talking about their problems is bad. That it is forbidden to tell others about your problems. However, this is not at all the case. Instead of constantly being angry with your husband, you’d better honestly admit that you don’t like. Tell him that you feel bad, that your emotional state is bad.
Learn to relax.
Sit in a comfortable position, close your eyes, and breathe slowly and deeply. Try completely stopping the flow of thoughts in your head. Sit like this for at least 3 minutes. This will help you calm down.
Relieve stress.
If you are angry or you want to cry, do what you want. Or, you can punch the mattress hard or shout at the top of your voice. The main thing is to get rid of the accumulated problems.
Find an assistant.
It is good if one of your relatives agrees to help you. It is better if you spend more time with your child. It will be nice if someone takes care of the cleaning, cooking and food shopping. If it is possible, you can contact the cleaning company. This way you can unload yourself a little.
Seek professional help.
Sometimes you can’t deal with depression on your own. Feel free to seek help from a psychotherapist or a competent psychologist. You may need medical treatment. You can find a wide range of antidepressants in the Antidepressants category. Please note that if you are breastfeeding, be sure to check whether the selected drug is compatible with breastfeeding!