Can you have intercourse with postpartum depression?

Written by Du Rui Xia

Obstetrics

Updated on December 18, 2024

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Women may experience a decrease in sexual desire when they suffer from postpartum depression. Therefore, if a woman wishes to engage in sexual activity after childbirth, the husband must be fully understanding and should not force intercourse, as it may worsen the symptoms of postpartum depression. When suffering from postpartum depression, a woman may experience emotional lows, decreased interest in hobbies, reduced motivation, and physical fatigue. However, with active treatment, these conditions can be improved. At the same time, the psychological care provided by family members and the husband is very important. They should offer sufficient reassurance to help the woman recover from postpartum depression.

Other Voices

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Written by Pang Ji Cheng

Psychiatry and Psychology

52sec

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Will depression get better?

Patients with depression can achieve clinical recovery. Large-scale survey studies have found that about 85% of patients can reach clinical recovery as long as they undergo systematic and standardized treatment. At the same time, systematic and standardized psychotherapy and physical therapy should also be conducted. This can uphold the recurrence rate or relapse rate of the patients. Studies have found that about 20% relapse within six months after the initial treatment, and the relapse rate reaches 50% within two years. For older patients, their relapse rate may be even higher. Therefore, depression is a highly curable disease, but also a highly recurrent disease. Systematic, standardized, and scientifically reasonable treatment is still a very important means to achieve good recovery rates and reduce relapses in depression.

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Written by Pang Ji Cheng

Psychiatry and Psychology

1min 7sec

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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

54sec

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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

58sec

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Can mild depression recur?

Patients with mild depression also have the possibility of relapse. Clinical research investigations have found that systematic antidepressant treatment can lead to clinical recovery in 85% of patients. However, even with persistent and standardized treatment, nearly one-fifth of patients still experience relapse. This signifies that some patients may have a relapse rate exceeding 70% if they cease treatment. For those who recover, there is still a one-fifth chance of relapse within six months, and nearly half might relapse within two years after the initial episode. Therefore, relapse is a significant challenge for depression patients. Thus, treatment should be systematic and standard, including pharmacotherapy. Additionally, psychotherapy plays a crucial role in treating depression by improving patients' irrational cognitive patterns and adjusting their cognitive reconstruction systems, ultimately achieving a healed state.

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Written by Pang Ji Cheng

Psychiatry and Psychology

1min 8sec

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What should I do about depression?

Once diagnosed with depression clinically, it is necessary to optimize and grade the treatment based on the severity of the patient's condition. Particularly for patients with moderate to severe depression, clinical doctors primarily consider pharmacotherapy, especially drugs that improve neurochemicals like serotonin and norepinephrine in the brain. The first-line medications recommended are serotonin reuptake inhibitors. In addition, during the medication process, it is important to ensure adequate dosage, full treatment duration, and systematic standardized treatment throughout the course of the disease. Additionally, in terms of psychological and physical therapies, cognitive-behavioral therapy is predominant in psychological treatment. It includes helping patients identify emotions, thoughts, behaviors, and effectively reconstructing systems to achieve therapeutic goals. For physical therapy options, repeated transcranial magnetic stimulation, light therapy, and electroconvulsive therapy can be considered. (Please follow professional medical advice for medication usage.)