Luckily, treatments such ascognitive behavioral therapycan help.
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What Is Postpartum OCD?
Postpartum OCD is an obsessive-compulsive disorder that emerges in the year after a person gives birth.
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OCD symptoms can also emerge during pregnancy.
This is known as perinatal OCD.
These conditions are treated similarly and are collectively known as pOCD.
Heres what the symptoms might look like.
Compulsions
In response to obsessions, people with pOCD often develop compulsions.
Because of this, the medical community thinks that pOCD is likely underdiagnosed.
Postpartum OCD differs frompostpartum anxietybecause it features obsessions or compulsions.
Still, OCD can cause anxiety, and anxiety can fuel OCD.
Its possible to have more than one postpartum mood disorder at once.
People who have previously been diagnosed with a mood disorder are at higher risk for developing pOCD.
Between 25% and 75% of people with OCD will have a recurrence after they give birth.
In addition, pOCD also occurs alongside other mood disorders.
Treatment for Postpartum OCD
Treatment for pOCD is similar totreatment for OCD.
During CBT sessions, youll learn that intrusive thoughts are normal and not dangerous.
This allows you to change how you interpret your thoughts, and eventually change or eliminate your compulsive behaviors.
SSRIs can help control symptoms of OCD.
Its important to get help for postpartum OCD as soon as possible.
Postpartum OCD often comes on suddenly and can be severe.
Taking medication and attending therapyeven with your baby in tow can help you feel healthy again.
It can also emerge during pregnancy, which is known as perinatal OCD.
Therapy and medication can both help control symptoms.
When you or your partner experiences postpartum mood disorders like postpartum OCD, it can be devastating.
Remember that these conditions are normal complications of childbirth.
Treatments are available that will have you feeling back to normal in no time.
Frequently Asked Questions
Its normal for new parents to experience some obsessive or intrusive thoughts.
Its unclear how long postpartum OCD lasts, but its important to get treatment as soon as possible.
Yes, postpartum OCD is related to postpartum depression.
These two conditions can coexist and make each other worse.
If youre dealing with a postpartum mood disorder, talk to your healthcare provider about all your symptoms.
Postpartum OCD is characterized by obsessions and compulsions.
Postpartum psychosis is much rarer.
Its characterized by hallucinations and delusions, where you truly believe things that are false.
For example, someone with postpartum psychosis might believe their baby is possessed and must be harmed.
Assuring them that everything will be fine or downplaying their obsessions can actually make matters worse.
Remember, postpartum OCD is a medical condition that requires medical treatment.
Sharma, Varinder and Christina Sommerdyk.Obsessivecompulsive disorder in the postpartum period: diagnosis, differential diagnosis and management.Womens Health.
July 1, 2015. International OCD Foundation.Postpartum and perinatal OCD.
2021 Jan 1;178(1):17-29. doi: 10.1176/appi.ajp.2020.20111601.
