THERAPY SERVICESTRAINING SCHOOL
LOCATIONS
TOOTINGCLAPHAMMARYLEBONE
CALL 020 8673 4545BOOK AN APPOINTMENT
Product has been added to your basket.
  • HOME
  • ABOUT
    • THE AWARENESS CENTRE
      • About The Awareness Centre
      • The Team
      • Centre News
      • Media
      • Collaborative Partners & External Agencies
    • OUR PRACTICES
      • TAC Clapham
      • TAC Tooting
      • TAC Marylebone
      • How to Find Us
    • THE DIRECTOR
      • Michaela McCarthy
  • THERAPY SERVICES
    • NHS THERAPY SERVICES
      • NHS Lambeth
      • NHS Wandsworth
      • NHS Sutton
      • Our NHS Therapists
      • NHS Multilingual Counselling
    • PRIVATE THERAPY SERVICES
      • Online Counselling & Telephone Therapy
      • Low Cost Counselling, Psychotherapy & Counselling Psychology
      • Counselling
      • Psychotherapy
      • Psychology
      • Our Low Cost Therapists
      • Our Private Therapists
      • Private Healthcare Providers
    • SPECIALIST THERAPY SERVICES
      • Addiction Counselling
      • Anger Management Therapy
      • Bereavement Counselling
      • Child & Adolescent Counselling
      • Couples Counselling
      • Eating Disorders Therapy
      • Family Therapy
      • LGBTQ+ Counselling
      • Multilingual Counselling
      • Sex & Relationship Therapy
      • Trauma Counselling & Psychotherapy
    • FURTHER INFORMATION
      • Types of Issues
        • Abuse
        • Addiction
        • ADHD
        • Anger
        • Anxiety Disorders
        • Asperger’s Syndrome
        • Attachment Disorder
        • Bereavement and Loss
        • Body Dysmorphic Disorder
        • Bullying
        • Cancer
        • Carer Support
        • Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
        • Communication
        • Dementia
        • Depression
        • Disability
        • Dissociation
        • Eating Disorders
        • Family and Relationships
        • Gender & Identity
        • Guilt and Shame
        • Hearing Voices
        • HIV/AIDS
        • Illness
        • Infertility
        • Isolation & Loneliness
        • Learning Difficulties
        • Life Transitions
        • Low Self-Esteem
        • Mental Health
        • Paranoia
        • Passive Aggressive Behaviour
        • Personality Disorders
        • Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
        • Pregnancy & Childbirth
        • Psychosis
        • Rape
        • Redundancy
        • Schizophrenia
        • Self-Harm
        • Sex and Relationships
        • Sexuality
        • Spirituality
        • Stress
        • Suicidal Thoughts
        • Tourette’s Syndrome
        • Trauma (Child & Adult)
        • Trichotillomania
        • Workplace Issues
      • Frequently Asked Questions
      • Resources
      • Approaches to Therapy
      • Client Testimonials
      • Book an Appointment
  • FEES
  • TAC TRAINING SCHOOL
    • Meet the Faculty
    • Foundation Certificate in Counselling
    • Diploma in Integrative Counselling
    • Diploma in Clinical Supervision
    • Diploma in Working with Couples
    • Corporate Mental Health Workshops
    • Testimonials for the Foundation Certificate
    • Testimonials for the Diplomas
  • PRIVATE PRACTICE
    • Private Practice
    • Hire A Room
    • Wimpole Street Practice
    • Join TAC Directory
    • Therapist Testimonials
  • BLOG
  • WORK AT TAC
  • COUNSELLING PLACEMENT
    • Counselling Placement
    • Counselling Placement Testimonials
    • Placement Training Testimonials
  • CONTACT
    • Appointment Request
    • Contact Us
Post-Natal Psychosis

Post-Natal Psychosis

Many women (80%) experience the “baby blues” in the weeks after having a baby, which is a short period after giving birth that’s filled with bouts of sadness, anxiety, stress, and mood swings. Fewer women (10%) experience post-natal depression, which is a depression that lasts longer than two weeks after giving birth – less than two weeks in duration is labelled as the “baby blues.”

Post-natal psychosis effects 1-2% of women after giving birth. Post-natal psychosis is a rare but serious mental health condition that can develop in the weeks following giving birth. Post-natal psychosis, also known as post-partum psychosis or puerperal psychosis, should be treated as a medical emergency.

Symptoms of Post-Natal Psychosis

The symptoms of post-natal psychosis usually begin to manifest within the first two weeks after giving birth. However, in rare cases, they can develop several weeks after giving birth.

The symptoms include:

  • Hallucinations (seeing or hearing things that aren’t real)
  • Delusions (experiencing thoughts and beliefs that are untrue)
  • A manic mood (talking and thinking too much or too quickly, feeling “high” or “on top of the world”)
  • A low mood (showing signs of depression, being withdrawn or tearful, lacking energy, having a loss of appetite, anxiety or trouble sleeping)
  • A loss of inhibitions
  • Feeling suspicious or fearful
  • Restlessness
  • Feeling very confused
  • Behaviour out of character

Of course, having a newborn baby is almost always going to shake things up and cause feelings of restlessness, anxiety, confusion (mainly through lack of sleep), and so on. A lot of these are normal reactions to having your world turned upside down by your new arrival. However, experiencing a combination of these symptoms together should be cause for concern.

Whilst saying this, if you are experiencing post-natal psychosis, you will likely not realise that you are unwell. It will likely be your partner, family, or friends that will notice the difference in your behaviour, and so if your partner, friend, or family member is pregnant or has recently given birth, it is important to be aware of the possibility of these symptoms.

Causes

The ultimate cause of post-natal psychosis is not yet known, however there are some risk factors that are known to increase the likelihood of developing post-natal psychosis.

If you have a family history of mental health illnesses, particularly post-natal psychosis, you are at an increased risk for developing post-natal psychosis yourself, even if you have never had any mental health problems yourself.

Similarly, if you have an existing diagnosis of bipolar depression or schizophrenia, you are at an increased risk for developing post-natal psychosis. If you have had a traumatic birth or pregnancy, you are at increased risk, and if you have developed post-natal psychosis after a previous pregnancy you are also at increased risk for developing post-natal psychosis.

If you know that you are at higher risk of developing post-natal psychosis, because of the above risk factors, it is important that you discuss this with your midwife, who can organise specialist care throughout your pregnancy and antenatal period.

Treating Post-Natal Psychosis

Postpartum psychosis is a serious mental illness that should be treated as a medical emergency. If not treated immediately, you can get rapidly worse and could neglect or harm your baby or yourself.

If you are concerned about a loved one having developed post-natal psychosis, your first steps should be to contact your GP, health visitor, or midwife.

In most post-natal psychosis cases, women need to be treated as in-patients in a hospital. This usually happens on a specialist mother and baby unit, so that the baby can stay with the mother throughout treatment. However, the mother may have to stay on a regular ward, without her baby, until a transfer to a mother and baby unit can be arranged.

You might be prescribed medication to treat post-partum psychosis, such as anti-depressants, anti-psychotics, or mood stabilisers, which will help to manage your symptoms.

As your recovery moves forward, you might be referred for psychological treatments such as cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) which can help you to manage your problems by changing the way you think and behave.

In exceedingly rare cases, electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) can be used. With ECT, electrodes are placed on the patient’s scalp and a finely controlled electric current is applied while the patient is under general anaesthesia. The current causes a brief seizure in the brain. You may have this form of treatment only if your symptoms are particularly severe, and other forms of therapy or medication have proven unsuccessful.

Support During Recovery

If your friend, partner, or family member is in recovery from post-natal psychosis, you can help them by being a calm and supportive presence, taking the time to listen to them, helping with practical tasks such as housework and childcare, letting them get as much sleep as possible, and not allowing too many visitors.

If you are the partner or loved one of someone who has experienced post-natal psychosis, it is important that you seek support as well. It can be a terrifying experience to see someone you love go through a period of psychosis, and it can be helpful to process this experience with a professional in order to be able to strengthen yourself to support your loved one.

If you, or someone you know, has experienced post-natal psychosis and would like to some professional support to process the experience and strengthen recovery, call our Front of House team on 020 8673 4545 or email [email protected]. We have sessions available seven days a week, by phone and online – and some of our therapists are also returning to offer face-to-face sessions at our centres in Clapham and Tooting.

Amy Launder
Amy Launder is a content writer for The Awareness Centre, writing and editing blog posts for our Talking Therapy blog. She enjoys writing and exploring ideas within the mental health and wellness fields that excite and intrigue her. Amy is also a qualified and practising psychotherapist, with an MA in Psychotherapy and Counselling from the University of Leeds.
What Is Moral Injury And How Do You Deal With It?
Do I Have Health Anxiety?

Related Posts

Social Media and Mental Health: Some Tips for Online Wellbeing

Social Media & Mental Health: Some Tips for Online Wellbeing

How Counselling Can Help You Manage Your Depression

How Counselling Can Help You Manage Your Depression

When Does Worrying Too Much Turn Into An Anxiety Disorder?

The Top Relationship Stressors Of The Festive Season – And How To Manage Them

The Top Relationship Stressors Of The Festive Season – And How To Manage Them

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Fill out this field
Fill out this field
Please enter a valid email address.

Subscribe to our newsletter



    Please add me to the list

    Categories

    • Abortion
    • Abuse
    • Acute Stress Disorder
    • Addiction
    • ADHD
    • Agoraphobia
    • Alcoholism
    • Anger Management
    • Anxiety
    • Ask Michaela
    • Attachment
    • Bereavement & Loss
    • Bipolar
    • Borderline Personality Disorder
    • Bullying
    • Children and Adolescents
    • Co-Dependency
    • Coaching
    • Coronavirus
    • Counselling
    • Counselling Placements
    • Couples
    • Dementia
    • Depression
    • Divorce
    • Domestic Violence
    • Dreams
    • Eating Disorders
    • Echoism
    • Ecopsychology
    • Empty Nest Syndrome
    • Family
    • Guilt
    • Health
    • Imposter Syndrome
    • Infertility
    • Insomnia
    • LGBTQ
    • Life Stories
    • Loneliness
    • Masochism
    • Meditation
    • Menopause
    • Mental Health
    • Mindfulness
    • Narcissism
    • News
    • OCD
    • Panic Attacks
    • Parenting
    • Personal Development
    • Personality Disorders
    • Porn
    • Postnatal Depression
    • Pregnancy
    • Psychology
    • Psychosexual
    • Psychotherapy
    • PTSD
    • Relationships
    • Sadness
    • Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
    • Self Esteem
    • Self-Care
    • Self-Harm
    • Sex
    • Sexual Harassment
    • Sleep
    • Social Anxiety Disorder
    • Stress
    • Suicide
    • The Awareness Centre
    • Therapy
    • Training School
    • Trauma
    • Uncategorized
    • Workplace Issues

    TAC Brochure

    DOWNLOAD

    TAC has BACP Membership

    TAC Clapham

    41 Abbeville Road
    London SW4 9JX
    [email protected]
    020 8673 4545

    Available Services

    check_circle
    Low Cost Therapy
    check_circle
    Private Therapy

    Appointments

    Monday – Thursday:
    7.00am – 10.00pm

    Friday:
    7.00am – 9.00pm

    Saturday:
    9.00am – 5.30pm

    Sunday:
    10.00am – 2.00pm

    TAC Tooting

    74-80 Upper Tooting Road
    London SW17 7PB
    [email protected]
    020 8673 4545

    Available Services

    check_circle
    Private Therapy

    Appointments

    Monday – Thursday:
    7.00am – 10.00pm

    Friday:
    7.00am – 9.00pm

    Saturday:
    9.00am – 5.30pm

    TAC Marylebone

    85 Wimpole Street
    London W1G 9RJ
    [email protected]
    020 8079 0708

    Available Services

    check_circle
    Private Therapy

    Appointments

    Tuesday and Thursday:
    8.00am – 12.00pm

    Email
    Facebook
    Twitter
    LinkedIn
    YouTube
    Instagram
    Pinterest

    © 2022 The Awareness Centre Ltd.

    • OUR THERAPISTS
    • TYPES OF ISSUES
    • OUR LANGUAGES
    • FAQS
    • HOW TO FIND US

    The Awareness Centre Limited. A company registered in England and Wales, Number: 06194423. Registered Office: 74-80 Upper Tooting Road, London, England, SW17 7PB.  Trading as The Awareness Centre.

    This site uses cookies and data collection for personalised advertising. Your data may be shared with third parties for this purpose. Learn more about how we collect data and use cookies, and check that you consent. Manage PreferencesI Consent Learn more
    Privacy & Cookies Policy

    Privacy Overview

    This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
    Necessary
    Always Enabled
    Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
    Non-necessary
    Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
    SAVE & ACCEPT