Postpartum depression affects women after childbirth. This is a kind of clinical depression and the symptoms are irritability, anxiety, episodes of crying for no reason, changes in appetite, and lack of interest in sex, sleeplessness, tiredness and sadness. It was thought earlier that this was brought on by weakness and lack of proper nutrition and vitamins, however, later research showed that this was due to hormonal changes in the body.
Signs of depression after childbirth should be taken seriously and the new mother should be treated for possible postpartum depression after going over her symptoms. Many mothers are deprived of sleep especially if their baby suffers from colic and this adds to the anxiety of the mother and makes the depression worse. Sometimes the symptoms of depression could be mild and the mother overcomes them in due time, but if the symptoms persist and become more acute then treatment is required. Panic attacks become more frequent and this could bring on physical symptoms of stress like a feeling of struggling for breath, claustrophobia and other such uncomfortable sensations. Though these signs of depression are because of a mental problem they are physically uncomfortable and cause a lot of distress.
The birth of a baby brings about a lot of changes in the lifestyle of the parents and as it is the mother who has to cope with the recent birth of the baby as well as the trauma involved in taking care of a new born the PPD symptoms get magnified. Women who have not suffered with PPD in their earlier pregnancies could still suffer from it with the latest child birth.