Patient’s Personal and Medical History, Drug Treatment, and Follow-up Care
Cindy Wachenheim was an ordinary woman who was a loving aunt to her nieces and nephews. She was competitive lawyer who worked for the State Supreme Court (Belluck, 2014). Cindy had been longing to be a mother, which finally happened in her 40s. It was a happy moment for Cindy, as she had been dreaming of being a mother. However, things have changed when her baby turned few months old. Cindy thought that her baby had a brain damage, which can no longer be treated. Because of this event, Cindy became obsessed and always blames herself for what happened to her child, which in fact, doctors assured her that her baby was normal and healthy. It was a tragic event for Cindy that might have affected her emotional and mental health. In 2013, Cindy strapped her child onto her chest using a baby carrier and jumped from the eighteenth floor of her apartment.
Based on the case study, Cindy suffered from maternal mental illness (Belluck, 2014). Her mental illness, which was caused by postpartum depression triggered condition to become a psychiatric illness. Cindy also suffered twice from the miscarriage before she got pregnant on their third attempt. Cindy’s postpartum depression has caused her delusional way of thinking towards her baby, thinking that was something wrong with him.
Cindy went to see a psychiatrist due to her condition. She was prescribed Zoloft, which is an anti-depressant. As part of her treatment, Cindy briefly visits her counselors to attend the talk therapy. The postpartum condition sometimes fluctuates, but Cindy’s condition is a different case (Belluck, 2014).
Implications of Postpartum Depression
There are many implications that the postpartum mood disorders provide. Primarily, it affects the patient when it comes to maintaining a good emotional and mental status. Postpartum condition is normally classified into three types, such as postpartum blues, postpartum depression, and postpartum psychosis. Postpartum blues, otherwise known as maternity blues affects up to 80% of women (Chokka, 2002). Parts of its symptoms include anxiety, irritability, and being oversensitive. It is normally perceived that such symptoms provide negative implications to patients. However, the most common is the Postpartum Depression that occurs within 4 weeks after delivery (Chokka, 2002). It has the same symptoms such as the other two depression types, which significantly affects the mother, weeks after giving birth.
On the other hand, this condition also affects the family unit in various ways. If not treated accordingly, postpartum depression may provide long-term effects on the family, which includes parental relationship issues as well as the child development (Leitch, 2002). Children who have depressed mothers usually find it difficult to have attachment with their parents. As a result, the risk of having behavioral problems increases that sometimes affect their vocabulary skills. Once the condition developed into extreme level, women may develop postpartum psychosis, which increases the risk of infanticide and suicide.
Other family members would also find it challenging to deal with someone who suffers from postpartum depression, especially if no education about the condition has been given to the family members. Therefore, misunderstanding may arise between the patient and her husband, which may worsen the patient’s mental condition. Therefore, it is advisable for women who suffer from postpartum depression to seek professionals’ help in order to treat the condition along with the support of the family and friends.
References
Belluck, P. (2014, June 16). A Case Study in Maternal Mental Illness - The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/17/health/maternal-mental-illness-can-arrive-months-after-baby.html?_r=0
Chokka, P. (2002). Postpartum Depression: Part 1. The Canadian Journal of CME, 37-45.
Leitch, S. (2002). Postpartum Depression: A Review of the Literature. Elgin-St. Thomas Health Unit.
