How to relieve postpartum depression

Written by Du Rui Xia
Obstetrics
Updated on September 01, 2024
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When postpartum depression occurs, the family must provide comprehensive care. For example, it is important to ensure that the new mother gets enough sleep by having family members take care of the baby and handle daily tasks. It is recommended that the mother and baby sleep separately to allow the mother sufficient rest, which can also help alleviate depression. Additionally, choosing a room with plenty of sunlight and ventilating it by opening windows daily can also reduce the symptoms of postpartum depression. More importantly, family members need to communicate psychologically with the new mother, engage in more conversations, and avoid keeping their feelings bottled up.

Other Voices

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Written by Yue Hua
Obstetrics and Gynecology
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How long does postpartum depression last?

Postpartum depression can generally be cured within a year in 70% of women. In families where such cases occur, it is important to pay attention, communicate more with the patient, and provide sufficient care and guidance. Additionally, timely psychological and pharmacological treatments should be administered to boost the patient's confidence and self-worth. It is also necessary to use antidepressant medications under a doctor's guidance that do not enter the breast milk, meaning they do not affect breastfeeding.

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Written by Zhou Yan
Geriatrics
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How to treat geriatric depression effectively?

Elderly depression should be treated comprehensively. Firstly, it is important to enhance the diet and supplement nutrition. Secondly, through psychotherapy, mainly to alleviate or relieve symptoms, improve patients' compliance with drug treatment, and reduce or eliminate the adverse consequences of the disease. Thirdly, pharmacotherapy can involve the use of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, selective serotonin, and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors, which are widely used in the treatment of elderly patients with depression. Fourth, modified electroconvulsive therapy is an option. Through the aforementioned comprehensive treatment, the clinical symptoms of depression can be improved. (Medication should be used under the guidance of a physician.)

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Written by Pang Ji Cheng
Psychiatry and Psychology
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How long does it take for depression to get better?

The treatment of depression is generally divided into three stages: acute phase treatment, continuation phase treatment, and maintenance phase treatment. The complete recovery from depression depends on the individual characteristics of the patient. The acute phase treatment usually lasts one to three months, mainly focusing on controlling the symptoms related to depression. Additionally, during the continuation phase treatment, the medication period generally lasts four to nine months, and its main goal is to maintain the stability of the patient's condition and prevent relapse of the disease. As for the maintenance phase treatment, the duration of treatment is to be determined. Typically, the duration is one to two years after the first onset, three to five years after the second onset, and for patients who have had more than three episodes, it is recommended to maintain a low-dose medication treatment to prevent recurrence of the disease.

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Written by Pang Ji Cheng
Psychiatry and Psychology
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How is depression diagnosed?

The diagnosis of depression in clinical practice includes understanding the patient's clinical manifestations, conducting in-depth psychiatric examinations, scale measurements, and excluding auxiliary examinations related to depression. Clinically, it is important to fully understand the occurrence, development, progression, and treatment process of depression-related manifestations in patients. Additionally, psychiatric examinations focus on detailed assessments of the patients’ sensations, perceptions, consciousness, thinking, emotions, attention, memory, intelligence, and self-control, to further understand their overall psychological state. Scale measurements often involve self-assessment scales, depressive symptom self-rating scales or external assessment scales for comprehensive evaluation. Exclusion diagnostics primarily involve corresponding tests, such as thyroid examinations, to rule out physical diseases that may cause symptoms related to depression. After compiling all the information mentioned above, a definitive diagnosis of depression can be made.

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Written by Pang Ji Cheng
Psychiatry and Psychology
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How to self-rescue from depression

Patients with depression can self-help through self-adjustment or seek help from a doctor. Clinically, the method of self-adjustment mainly involves exercise, which is also called behavioral activation training in psychology. Exercise can relax the muscles throughout the body. Additionally, exercise can stimulate the brain to release the "happiness element" endorphins, which have a significant improving effect on depression and anxiety. Other methods include venting and shifting attention. Venting typically involves expressing feelings through spoken or written words to others, especially close friends and family. By expressing these feelings, depressive emotions can also be articulated. Shifting attention, clinically, involves engaging in personal interests such as painting, fishing, or listening to music, which can increase pleasure and enhance motivation. Alternatively, seeking help from a doctor usually involves psychotherapy and medication, which often yield good results.