A Serious Illness that Needs Prompt Intervention

by CHRISTINA VIEGAS
Posted on 2008-10-10
A young lady in her early twenties gives birth to a beautiful baby boy. But, unlike most women who are overwhelmed with joy and a fierce love, this young lady finds it extremely hard to cope with motherhood. She gets depressed and is constantly crying that she can see some bad people out to get her.Rumours are strife in the village, that the lady is seeing ghosts and might be possessed any day. One early morning, just seven days after her delivery, she is found lying face down in a puddle of rain water – very cold and dead!
It is not surprising that the village folk continue with their gossip, “The spirits finally got her!” As filmy as a Ram Gopal Varma flick as this sounds, this is a true incident that occurred three years ago, in a village adjacent to Bambolim. The lady died of a severe mental illness called puerperal psychosis, which drove her to end her precious life.
When most of the educated folk are ignorant of this illness, it goes without saying that the village folk are in the dark. According to psychiatrists and gynaecologists, it is comforting that this life-threatening and menacing condition affects about one to three women in a thousand. But, every life is precious.
What is puerperal psychosis? “It is an acute, severe mental illness which usually begins a few days after childbirth and is a psychiatry emergency,” say the medical experts.
What are the symptoms to look out for? “The new mother starts to behave strangely, seeming perplexed and puzzled, sleeps poorly and is restless and erratic in the day. This soon changes into a florid psychotic stage, characterised by hallucinations and delusions which may be persecutory, grandiose or nihilistic.”
Expounding further, they enlighten, “But the predominant disturbance is one of mood, which may range from elation to profound depression or it may be very changeable and mixed.”
Who is prone to the attack of this illness? According to the experts, “A woman is most likely to be affected if she has already experienced such an illness previously, or if someone in her family has suffered a mental illness, serious enough to have involved psychiatric treatment.”
They continue, “Puerperal psychosis is most likely to be due to the effect of huge hormone changes which happen at the end of pregnancy and giving birth and is now recognised to be manic-depression or schizophrenia.”
According to doctors, people like obstetricians, general practitioners, midwives etc need to recognise the warning signs. Husbands have to play an active role during this very important period. The support and help from a loving and understanding husband can go a long way in easing pressure off a new mother.
What is comforting to learn is that this illness though serious, responds very well to proper treatment and the outlook is excellent. Besides, you need not agonise over bonding with the baby as most often the baby too is admitted with the mother so as to establish healthy bonding with expert supervision. Fortunately, even medication which are antidepressants appear in very tiny amounts in the breast milk, so breastfeeding is not discouraged. And physical treatment such as electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is no barrier at all.
Doctors opine that the husband and family need to understand that a woman needs all the love and support she can get during this period. They even suggest that the couple set aside some time just to be together with a close relative or friend chipping in to look after the baby during this period.
What is most imperative is to understand that the illness is curable and should never be hidden due to social stigma as there could be dire consequences. Look out for maids and other people from the poorer strata of society and keep them informed.