PEORIA, Ill. – The untimely death of actress Hayden Panettiere and the Lindsay Clancy murder trial going on now in Massachusetts, are shining a light on postpartum depression and mental illness.
Dr. Barbara Toohill, with The Antioch Group, says women will often dismiss their symptoms, when they really need to get help.
“Through some careful questioning and trying to really understand what she’s experiencing and how this is different from her normal experience of life, and her normal emotional experience, it’s important sometimes for them to hear the words ‘this is something else’,” Toohill says.
She tells WMBD’s “Greg and Dan Show” that postpartum and perinatal mood changes are very common, but not unimportant.
“It is starting to get more attention, people are realizing, again not only is this something that can start before baby, it can emerge at any point in the first year (of life),” Dr. Toohill says.
Toohill says there’s a spectrum of mental illnesses women can experience after having a child…including postpartum OCD, postpartum trauma symptoms, postpartum psychosis and bipolar episodes related to childbirth.
If something doesn’t feel right, Toohill says it’s time to see your doctor. Don’t dismiss your feelings.
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