Postpartum Anxiety

Your brain just won’t be quiet. The thoughts pile up and pile up and pile up and swirl around your brain like a constant thought tornado. Why can’t you focus on one thing? Why do you keep having scary thoughts about something happening to your baby? Why do you feel so overwhelmed that sometimes you scream and yell at the people you love? You can’t sleep. You can’t eat. Sometimes all of this worry makes you feel nauseous. Sometimes it makes your heart race.

What in the world is going on?!

If you recently had a baby, you might be experiencing postpartum anxiety. Yes, that is absolutely a thing. And we want you to know that if you are feeling any of these things, you are not alone.

May is Maternal Mental Health Month, so today on the blog we are shining a light on a common, yet not well known, perinatal mental health issue: postpartum anxiety.

As a society we make the mistake of using the term “postpartum depression” to encompass a wide range of perinatal mood and anxiety disorders. But postpartum depression is its own unique mental health issue with its own unique signs and symptoms (including mood swings, overwhelming fatigue, feelings of guilt or shame, loss of appetite, insomnia, withdrawal from loved ones, and difficulty bonding with your baby). And by doing so, we fail to recognize the other many postpartum mental health issues that affect new parents, including postpartum ocd, postpartum ptsd, and postpartum anxiety.

Lack of awareness of these other perinatal mood disorders can sometimes prevent people from seeking treatment or getting help. If you are only familiar with the term postpartum depression but you do no feel sad, depressed, or overwhelmed with feelings of shame (just to name a few symptoms), you might dismiss the actual symptoms you are having and fail to reach out.

We want you to know that postpartum anxiety is its own recognized and valid perinatal mental health issue. If you are experiencing any of the following symptoms, you might be struggling with postpartum anxiety:

  • Loss of appetite

  • Inability to sleep

  • Rage or intense anger/irritability

  • Worry

  • Racing thoughts

  • Physical symptoms such as racing heart, dizziness, nausea, or vomiting

If these things sound familiar to you, first - you are not alone in experiencing these things. And second, you deserve to feel better. Yes, you matter and you deserve to be seen, heard, supported, and treated.

If you think you might be dealing with postpartum anxiety (or any of the other postpartum mood and anxiety disorders mentioned above), reach out to your OB/GYN or your regular doctor. You can also learn more about these issues, along with avaiable resources, by visiting Postpartum Support International. And if you don’t feel comfortable reaching out to your doctor, we encourage you to share what is happening to you with a trusted friend or loved one. You can even reach out to us, the doulas at Doulas of Raleigh, for help. We are familiar with the area resources that specialize in postpartum mental health issues and would be happy to refer you to someone. Or we can just be a listening ear if that’s what you need in the moment.

But whatever you do, please don’t stay silent. Postpartum anxiety is real and you deserve to feel better. You are more than your mental health issue.

Kelly Rutan