{"id":1673,"date":"2019-05-22T14:59:28","date_gmt":"2019-05-22T14:59:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/?p=1673"},"modified":"2019-05-23T09:26:35","modified_gmt":"2019-05-23T09:26:35","slug":"from-instagram-mothers-to-postpartum-psychosis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/from-instagram-mothers-to-postpartum-psychosis\/","title":{"rendered":"From \u2018Instagram mothers\u2019 to Postpartum Psychosis"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Motherhood is meant to be \u201cInstagram perfect\u201d. Full of\nsmiles, cuddles and cute babies. But there is more to it, sometimes invisible\nto the naked eye. We all hear about the physical consequences of having a baby,\nbut not about mental illness brought on by having babies. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Motherhood in Real-life<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The  Louis\nTheroux documentary \u2018Mothers on the Edge\u2019<\/a> was a perfect way to start\nMental Health Awareness Week. The film depicted several women and their\nfamilies with a wide spectrum and complexity of postpartum mental illness, the\nmost severe being postpartum psychosis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Huge credit to the women in \u2018Mothers on the Edge\u2019 as well as\nthose who followed suit in social media sharing their stories to raise\nawareness and decrease stigma.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Barbara, a first-time mother who was brought into hospital\ntwo days earlier, was confused. She told Theroux she believed her husband was\nher son, which would make him her baby\u2019s brother as well as father. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her thoughts started racing, she couldn\u2019t sleep and ended up\nat a train station where she planned to end her life. She had no history of\nmental illness before this episode. After four weeks on the mother and baby\nunit, she returned to her \u2018normal self\u2019 and was discharged home. \u2018Another\nChristmas miracle\u2019 as described by her treating psychiatrist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lisa, a mother of three, with previous episodes of postnatal\ndepression, developed a psychotic episode after this most recent pregnancy. Her\nhusband described an \u2018utterly alarming\u2019 decline in two weeks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lisa further explained she felt low, did not speak, did not\nwash for days and believed the house was going to be invaded by killer clowns\nwho would rip them apart and destroy their house. \u2018It was graphic what I could\nsee\u2019, said Lisa. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Six months later she still feels that fear, although she no\nlonger believes it will happen. Although she continues to experience symptoms\nof anxiety, she is now well enough to go back home after a lengthy stay at a\nmother and baby unit. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Postpartum Psychosis:\nthe facts<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Postpartum psychosis is a severe episode of mental illness\naffecting one to two in every 1,000 births. It constitutes some of the most\nsevere forms of pregnancy-related psychiatric illness and has a clear onset,\ndays or weeks after childbirth. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This can happen in women with no previous psychiatric\nhistory, like Barbara, or in around 50% of cases, those with an established\nhistory of severe mental illness. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Women with bipolar disorder are at a particularly high risk,\nwith around 1 in 5 women going on to experience an episode of psychosis\nfollowing childbirth. In other cases, childbirth can trigger further bipolar\nepisodes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Symptoms\nduring an episode are severe and can change rapidly, within hours or days. They\nmay include high or low mood, confusion, abnormal beliefs, and hearing or\nseeing things that are not there like the documentary so powerfully illustrated.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Becoming\nunwell at this time can have a huge impact on the lives of women and their\nfamilies, disrupting the relationship with the new baby. Tragically, but\nrarely, episodes of illness may lead to suicide or harm to the baby. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

An\nepisode of postpartum psychosis can last weeks to months and despite its severe\npresentation, with the right treatment most women recover and go on to develop\nexcellent relationships with their children. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although\nresponse to treatment for the acute psychotic phase of illness may be\nexcellent, like we saw with Barbara, it is common for women to experience a more\nprolonged depressive phase of illness and often a longer phase of recovery,\ncoming to terms with the experiencing a severe mental illness at this time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mother and baby units<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Episodes of postpartum psychosis are often very severe and\nusually require admission. The documentary showed two specialist psychiatric\nunits: a mother and baby unit in South London and another in Winchester where\nmothers live alongside their babies. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While funding has been announced to increase the number of\nmother and baby units from 17 to 21 in England, there are still no units in\nWales or Northern Ireland, and a limited number of beds available. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This means there are still women in the UK facing the\ndifficult decisions of having to travel hours from their homes for the\ntreatment they need or being admitted to a general psychiatry ward and being\nseparated from their baby. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Maternal Mental Health Alliance is pressing for this\nissue to be addressed through the Everyone\u2019s Business\ncampaign<\/a>, which calls for all women to have access to the care they\nand their families need, wherever and whenever they need it.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The need for research<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the documentary, the \u201cperfect storm\u201d of events and\ncircumstance that can lead to postpartum psychosis was mentioned: hormones,\nbreastfeeding, sleep changes, obstetric complications, previous history and\ngenetics and adapting to new circumstances among them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We still know little about what causes postpartum psychosis,\nhow can we predict who is going to have an episode, and more importantly, how\ncan we prevent it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I am involved in one of a number of projects underway at the\nUniversity aiming to better understand the causes of postpartum psychosis and\nmood disorders in pregnancy. We hope that our work will lead to better\npredictions and improved treatments for women affected by these illnesses. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To help us achieve that goal, we need women who have\nexperienced postpartum psychosis and\/or have bipolar disorder to take part in\nour studies. To find out more about taking part, visit www.ncmh.info\/postpartum<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Motherhood is meant to be \u201cInstagram perfect\u201d. Full of smiles, cuddles and cute babies. But there is more to it, sometimes invisible to the naked eye. We all hear about […]","protected":false},"author":1686,"featured_media":1677,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1673","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-adult-mental-health"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7swiU-qZ","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":521,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/understanding-the-causes-of-perinatal-mental-illness-by-working-with-those-whove-lived-through-it\/","url_meta":{"origin":1673,"position":0},"title":"Understanding the causes of perinatal mental illness by working with those who\u2019ve lived through it","author":"Professor Ian Jones","date":"8 July 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"The post was originally published on MRC Insight under CC BY 4.0 More than 1 in 10 women experience an episode of mental illness in pregnancy or following childbirth. Perinatal mental illness can be severe and have significant implications for women, their families and wider society. Suicide is a leading\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Adult mental health"","block_context":{"text":"Adult mental health","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/category\/adult-mental-health\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/502\/2016\/07\/iStock_24719097_LARGE.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/502\/2016\/07\/iStock_24719097_LARGE.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/502\/2016\/07\/iStock_24719097_LARGE.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/502\/2016\/07\/iStock_24719097_LARGE.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/502\/2016\/07\/iStock_24719097_LARGE.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/502\/2016\/07\/iStock_24719097_LARGE.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":775,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/does-taking-antidepressants-during-pregnancy-harm-the-child-here-are-the-facts\/","url_meta":{"origin":1673,"position":1},"title":"Does taking antidepressants during pregnancy harm the child? Here are the\u00a0facts","author":"Professor Ian Jones","date":"24 October 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"When it comes to taking antidepressants in pregnancy, women and their doctors have a difficult decision to make. Depression in pregnancy and following childbirth (the postpartum period) is common and has potentially serious consequences. Suicide is a leading cause of maternal death in the UK. However, a number of studies\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Adult mental health"","block_context":{"text":"Adult mental health","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/category\/adult-mental-health\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/502\/2016\/10\/Antidepressants-during-pregnancy.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/502\/2016\/10\/Antidepressants-during-pregnancy.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/502\/2016\/10\/Antidepressants-during-pregnancy.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/502\/2016\/10\/Antidepressants-during-pregnancy.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/502\/2016\/10\/Antidepressants-during-pregnancy.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/502\/2016\/10\/Antidepressants-during-pregnancy.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1566,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/meet-the-researcher-amy-lynham-research-associate-psychosis-and-major-affective-disorders\/","url_meta":{"origin":1673,"position":2},"title":"Meet the Researcher – Amy Lynham, Research Associate, Psychosis and Major Affective Disorders","author":"Amy Lynham","date":"11 September 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Why did you choose to do research into mental health? I studied psychology at university because I was fascinated by the brain and human behaviour. I spent a year working in the MRC Centre of Neuropsychiatric Genetics and Genomics as part of a professional placement and this stimulated my interest\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Adult mental health"","block_context":{"text":"Adult mental health","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/category\/adult-mental-health\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/502\/2018\/09\/Amy-Lynham.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/502\/2018\/09\/Amy-Lynham.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/502\/2018\/09\/Amy-Lynham.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/502\/2018\/09\/Amy-Lynham.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/502\/2018\/09\/Amy-Lynham.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/502\/2018\/09\/Amy-Lynham.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":216,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/healthypeoplecanhearvoicestoo\/","url_meta":{"origin":1673,"position":3},"title":"Healthy people can hear voices, too","author":"Clara Humpston","date":"6 June 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Most of us have come across the odd person on the street mumbling to themselves, as if they were engaging in a conversation with someone else. They often appear totally preoccupied with their invisible companions, yet somehow confused or even distressed at times. What would your reaction be if I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Adult mental health"","block_context":{"text":"Adult mental health","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/category\/adult-mental-health\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/502\/2016\/04\/iStock_000016353737_Medium.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/502\/2016\/04\/iStock_000016353737_Medium.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/502\/2016\/04\/iStock_000016353737_Medium.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/502\/2016\/04\/iStock_000016353737_Medium.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/502\/2016\/04\/iStock_000016353737_Medium.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/502\/2016\/04\/iStock_000016353737_Medium.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":794,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/schizophrenia-and-the-paradoxes-of-insight\/","url_meta":{"origin":1673,"position":4},"title":"Schizophrenia and the paradoxes of insight","author":"Clara Humpston","date":"27 October 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"When we think of the symptoms of schizophrenia, perhaps the first examples that emerge in our minds are the chaotic thoughts, disturbing suspicions and invisible voices tormenting the sufferer. These are indeed the most striking manifestations of an acute psychosis \u2013 delusions, hallucinations and thought disorder \u2013 but as I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Adult mental health"","block_context":{"text":"Adult mental health","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/category\/adult-mental-health\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/502\/2016\/10\/Blurred-image-of-two-faces.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/502\/2016\/10\/Blurred-image-of-two-faces.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/502\/2016\/10\/Blurred-image-of-two-faces.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/502\/2016\/10\/Blurred-image-of-two-faces.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/502\/2016\/10\/Blurred-image-of-two-faces.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/502\/2016\/10\/Blurred-image-of-two-faces.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":850,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/shell-shock-lessons-for-today\/","url_meta":{"origin":1673,"position":5},"title":"Shell Shock \u2013 Lessons for Today","author":"Stefanie Linden","date":"11 November 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"On 1 November, to commemorate the centenary of the Battle of the Somme, one of the defining events of World War One (WW1) - I talked at a meeting of the Glamorgan Family History Society about my research on psychological trauma and combat stress. The centenary of the Great War\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Adult mental health"","block_context":{"text":"Adult mental health","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/category\/adult-mental-health\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/502\/2016\/11\/angels-of-mons.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/502\/2016\/11\/angels-of-mons.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/502\/2016\/11\/angels-of-mons.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/502\/2016\/11\/angels-of-mons.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"meta_box":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/502\/2019\/05\/GettyImages-481394474.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1673","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1686"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1673"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1673\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1674,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1673\/revisions\/1674"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1677"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1673"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1673"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1673"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}