When we talk with women about what they fantasized becoming a mother would feel like, most expected to feel overwhelmed in both wonderful and frightening ways. This expectation is reasonable. Becoming a mother does welcome women into a world of both extraordinary wonder and intense fear. However, few mothers expect to feel more disappointed, helpless, and hopeless than anyone else could possibly understand, let alone help.
In turn, when the fear that something is wrong descends upon them, mothers frantically look for ways to help themselves – desperate to maintain the illusion that everything is okay. At first, this is not a bad thing. Mild perinatal distress responds well to self-help and social support. However, when the distress becomes too intense and prolonged, it can move into the realm of perinatal mood and anxiety disorders.
In this
free infographic straight from
The Perinatal Patient, we explore perinatal mood and anxiety disorders in detail and provide insight into the unique symptom profile for each type of disorder. As a provider, consider how you will convey the information in this infographic to your patients. You may provide them with relevant worksheets, develop talking points or a class from its content, or even decide to share this infographic in its entirety.
As a reminder, this
infographic and
The Perinatal Patient: A Compassionate Approach to Treating Postpartum Depression, Anxiety, and Related Disorders do not serve as diagnostic tools, but they do aim to empower providers to help mothers in distress as well as empower mothers to talk to someone who can help them sort out what they are experiencing.