Postpartum Anxiety and OCD: Causes, Symptoms, and How to Cope
A miracle, a blessing, a bundle of joy. These are just a few of the various words and phrases used to describe having a baby. It’s a big life change for you and your family. While a lot of the words and phrases used to describe this time are positive, it’s important to also reflect on the big life changes that aren’t as widely talked about.
Having a baby is a blessing, but it can also be a big change in your daily life and routine, body, and mind, which can be a difficult adjustment to make. As with all things and life, there are positives and negatives. A lot of new parents need an adjustment period to allow them to navigate their new normal after welcoming a new baby.
Some individuals struggle with mental health challenges such as postpartum anxiety or OCD. Let’s learn more about the causes, symptoms, and how someone can cope if they’re struggling with these conditions postpartum.
What Is Postpartum Anxiety?
Postpartum anxiety is a mental health condition that can develop after childbirth or following an adoption. This condition involves an individual having extreme or severe anxiety during the postpartum period after having a baby or becoming a parent. These intrusive thoughts can start to take over and cause someone to develop excessive worry or irrational fears. The feeling of impending danger or doom will occur, but an individual won’t be able to pinpoint exactly where the fear is coming from.
What Is Postpartum OCD?
Postpartum OCD is a type of obsessive-compulsive disorder that can cause a mother to experience unwanted or intrusive thoughts about their baby or babies. The obsessions will be surrounded by the worry or fear of harming or neglecting their own child. The stress that comes after immediately having or welcoming a child can trigger these obsessions and compulsions to occur.
The Causes
Having worries after having a baby or becoming a parent is extremely common. It’s a big life change that involves you caring for a small human being. They depend on you for their wants, needs, and survival. The difference between having normal worries versus postpartum anxiety or OCD is that you’re unable to stop those worries from consuming you. These conditions can cause you to experience worries throughout the day and night.
There isn’t one specific cause of postpartum anxiety or postpartum OCD. There are several believed risk factors that are believed to bring on these signs and symptoms for both conditions.
- Change in hormone levels
- Existing health condition
- Family history
- Feeling responsible for caring for, protecting, and providing for a baby
- Lack of sleep
- Not having a support system
- Negative past life experience
- Personality
- Previous loss of a child
- Stressful life events
The Signs and Symptoms
These are some of the main signs and symptoms of postpartum anxiety:
- Avoidance
- Difficulty sleeping
- Digestive issues
- Irritablility
- Lack of focus
- Loss of appetite
- Racing thoughts
- Shortness of breath
Postpartum OCD can share a lot of the same signs and symptoms of postpartum anxiety. These are some of the most common obsessions and compulsions of postpartum OCD:
Obsessions
- Accidentally dropping or harming them
- Keeping obsessions to yourself out of fear
- Germs and contamination
Compulsions
- Asking for reassurance
- Checking and rechecking
- Excessively cleaning or washing
- Repeating prayers or mantras
How to Cope
It’s important to know that struggling with postpartum anxiety or OCD does not make you a bad parent or mean that you’re unfit for this role. All it means is that you need a little extra support during this time. With the right support and treatment, you’ll be on your way to caring for your child in the best way that you can. Reach out today to learn more about OCD treatment and how we can help you navigate this time.