Women Personality and Mental Health

Post-partum depression, which happens to most women after giving birth, caused by hormonal changes that follow childbirth and rapidly resolve within hours or days. Most women probably only experience mild depression, weepiness, irritability, fatigue, and moodiness. Others, however, experience deeper and longer symptoms. Good self-care and support from family and friends can help many women, although others will require treatment with medication and/or therapy.

Here are tips to prevent the worst symptoms of post-partum depression.

1. Save some time for your well-being
If you are a new mother, you tend to focus on your new baby without giving slightest attention to yourself. It is important to save some personal time, even though it is just some quiet moment alone in a bathroom or when doing personal grooming.

2. Eat well
It goes without saying that if you are breastfeeding you should eat well, but even if you are not breastfeeding, you should feed yourself well. Nutritional deficiencies can cause depression symptoms and make you too tired to properly care for yourself and the baby.

3. Have a good sleep
When your baby requires frequent feedings, it can be difficult to get the rest you need. If you are tired, however, it is natural that you are going to feel irritable and depressed. It is very important that you sleep whenever and as long as possible. Take naps when the baby is sleeping, and allow other family members to take over feeding duties. Pump milk ahead of time, so it is available for occasional bottle feedings.

4. Get plenty of Omega-3
Studies have shown a link between postpartum depression and a dietary deficiency of omega-3 fatty acids. Also, an open trial over an 8-week period showed significant improvement in depression in postpartum women who took omega-3 supplements. Although omega-3 fatty acids may be obtained by eating fatty fish (mackerel, lake trout, herring, sardines, albacore tuna and salmon), pregnant women should take fish oil supplements instead. Fish are likely to contain contaminants, like mercury and polychlorinated biphenyls, which are harmful to the developing fetus.

5. Ask help from friends and family
If it is possible, ask for help. Just because the new baby is yours, does not mean that other people cannot be involved. In cultures where it is expected that family members will pitch in and help, leaving the mother free to rest and feed the baby, postpartum depression is almost unheard of. If your friends and family offer help, relax and allow them to help.