Are you tired or depressed?

Being a mum is wonderful, exhausting, amazing and hard. It’s important to be able to reflect to see if you’re ok or if you could have postnatal or perinatal depression.

The past week has been mental health week in Australia and it made me think about perinatal depression (PND). PND refers to depression anytime from when your baby is conceived until they are 1 year old. Around 1 in 7 mums suffer from PND which I think is a shocking statistic. It’s so common! And can cause such distress. I’m relieved to see that the stigma around mental health is slowly slipping away with more people coming forward to speak about their struggles. So please look around your friends and mother’s group and ask “R U OK?”.

Also ask yourself “am I OK?”. It can be hard to tell the difference between being totally exhausted and being depressed as some of the symptoms overlap.

Sleep deprivation

What mother isn’t tired and stretched in everyway? It’s tough. Especially if you have a newborn or a child who won’t sleep. For mums of newborns I usually find they hit their low at around 4 months when reserves are gone and they can no longer cope with limited sleep. They come to me tearful and overwhelmed. Oh and they feel guilty for feeling that way. I get it. I was there. Stop it mums! Stop being so hard on your self! You are doing a great job! And the good news is that a lot of these bad feelings will pass if you get to catch up on sleep. This is one way to try differentiate between exhaustion and depression.

Studies have shown that sleep deprivation can actually activate a part of the brain called the amygdala that controls emotions increasing anger and irritability (think of road rage and snapping at people) and decreasing our ability to regulate emotions. I’ve been that mum collapsed on the floor sobbing totally exhausted because my newborn wouldn’t sleep for longer than 45 minutes. Being tired can also lead to feelings of loneliness when you just don’t have the energy to get dressed and out the door. Oh and add in the crazy hormone surges and well, life becomes interesting. So I honestly think it can be hard to know if you’re tired or depressed. Take time to reflect on how you’re feeling and please ask your family and friends for their input (and help).

Depression

It is important to recognise alert signs that are more suggestive of PND. I don’t claim to be a psychologist or a psychiatrist but if you experience any of these symptoms or are worried about yourself please see your family doctor, call lifeline on 131114 or look on PANDA (Perinatal Anxiety & Depression Australia) or Beyond Blue.

If you don’t have PND but know you need the equivalent of a good hug and a weeks worth of sleep please read my blog on mama self care next week.

Resources:

Life Line 131114 www.lifeline.org.au

PANDA (Perinatal Anxiety & Depression Australia) www.panda.org.au

Beyond Blue www.beyondblue.org.au