What Is Postpartum Psychosis?
1. Signs and Symptoms
About half of women experience maternity blues, where they experience irritability, anxiety, and mood swings. This is different from postpartum depression, which is observed in about 20% of women after birth and can be similar to major depressive disorder. However, in postpartum psychosis, which is considered a psychiatric emergency, the signs and symptoms usually begin in the first 2 weeks after delivery and may even occur in the first 2 to 3 days after birth.
The symptoms can change and vary quickly and can cause racing thoughts, severe confusion, depression, paranoia, delusions, hallucinations, lack of energy, appetite loss, restlessness, feeling “on top of the world,” difficulty sleeping, intense anger, recurrent thoughts of suicide or death, thoughts of harming the baby, inability to concentrate, and loss of inhibitions.
