Post-Partum Depression and OCD; The Missed Diagnosis

Several years ago former model and actress Brooke Shields released her autobiography. The book, a bestseller receiving critical acclaim contained stunning admissions about her struggle with post-partum depression. The admissions brought a steady flow of publicity; finally allowing the world to see that post partum depression is a problem. The disease is similar to rape in that women tend to let it go underreported and often the various symptoms go undiagnosed. There is one type of post partum depression that is severely overlooked. It is the depression combined with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).

Like OCD, soon after giving birth the new mother is overwhelmed by images or certain reoccurring thoughts. If you have seen any specials on OCD, you might remember the constant washing of hands to get rid of germs, pulling hair out, and other behavior. When it comes to post partum obsessive-compulsive disorder the thoughts don't revolve around the washing of hands, rather the thoughts deal with the new baby. The scariest part is that the thoughts often including hurting their own baby. Other times, it can be the constant changing of the diaper, even though it is clean. In their minds, they pictured their child becoming deathly ill from even the slightest defecation in the diaper. This admission in Brooke Shield's book tended to garner the most attention.

Doctors and psychiatrists have yet to find the root cause of the disease. However, most tend to believe that the hormonal imbalance occurring after giving birth does play a role.