"The birth of a child comes with a swirl of positive emotions: awe, joy, relief. And yet, for many birthing parents, this postpartum period can also be accompanied by monthsor even yearsof debilitating depression. For some of these parents, traditional antidepressant meds like sertraline, better known as Zoloft, and fluoxetine, aka Prozac, have provided some relief. But many with postpartum depression have had little recourse."
"So at a basic level it is a mood disturbance. For a long time it was lumped in with all kinds of depression, like garden-variety depression, but only recently have people begun to realizeand researchers in particularrealize that [it] is its own entity. Pierre-Louis: Mm-hmm. Broadfoot: And part of that has to do with hormones and the big fluctuations in hormones during pregnancy and in the postpartum period and how the brain responds to that"
Postpartum depression is a distinct mood disturbance linked to hormonal fluctuations during pregnancy and the postpartum period that can make the brain more vulnerable to mood disorders. About 500,000 people in the U.S. develop postpartum depression each year. Traditional antidepressants such as sertraline (Zoloft) and fluoxetine (Prozac) provide relief for some patients, but many people remain without effective options. Research attention has increased as recognition of postpartum depression as its own condition has grown. A new medication is under investigation to better treat those for whom existing therapies have been insufficient.
Read at www.scientificamerican.com
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