Mental & Emotional Health

When I had my children, I was already under the care of a physician and a psychiatrist because I knew I had tendencies to get depressed.  I also have tendencies to be very happy.  And, 10 seconds later, very depressed.

And, having babies and messing with the hormones in your body, that’s all well and good, but if you haven’t lived it, you just don’t get it.

If you don’t believe me, go read Her Bad Mother, and I promise you will return with a light bulb moment, thanking writers like her for helping us through the hard times.

What do you do when you’re at a CRAVE Portland party and you get this text message from a close friend: “Feel like flying to california right now?”

Well, if you’re me, you start laughing and remind your friend that you have two finals tomorrow and you can’t really afford to drop your stuff and fly to California right then. Then you let her tell you that her water broke … a month early … when she’s pregnant with twins.

Then, you start freaking out! We enjoyed the CRAVE Portland party for a bit more, but then left around 7pm. It’s all insane, but I told her that I would be there if I could, for the birth of the twins. Well, of all times! So, right now I’m waiting to hear back from her, but may be flying to San Bernadino tomorrow afternoon immediately after my two finals. Talk about feeling overwhelmed!

In her world, a few minutes equals an hour and three minutes. She was supposed to call and let me know the plan a while ago … but I’m still waiting. I don’t know whether to get in bed and try to get some sleep, and then get up early to pack and get ready or to get some stuff put together tonight in order to be ready in case she calls me. I’m torn! Being in the hospital, and being in labor doesn’t lead to an easy answer of the cell phone!

So, if you’re the praying kind, say a prayer for my friend. Say a prayer for my finals. Say a prayer that my head doesn’t explode waiting on hearing news!

Earlier today I posted some basics on Pica disorder that you should check out. Now I’m going to look at why researchers believe that people develop pica disorder.

When looking at why people develop pica disorder, there are quite a few different things that researchers keep in mind.

There may be:
> nutritional deficiencies - you may be lacking zinc or iron. This lack may trigger a specific craving, but even when you’re eating those non-food items, you’re not feeding your body the nutrients that you need. (If you need zinc, eat oysters, red meat, poultry, beans, nuts, whole grains, fortified breakfast cereals and some dairy products. If you need iron, look for clams, pork/chicken or beef liver, oysters or mussels.)

> severe dieting - by eating non-food substances, you may be easing your hunger with this feeling of fullness. However, these non-food substances could doing more harm than good!

> malnutrition - those in underdeveloped countries have been known to commonly eat soil & clay in order to feel full

> parental neglect - children who don’t have parental (or other adult supervision/attention) may develop pica to feed themselves, or to attract attention to themselves; this is most often seen in children living in low socioeconomic statuses

> developmental problems - mental retardation, autism, brain abnormalities and other developmental disabilities may lead children (and adults) to eat non-food substances

> mental health conditions - such as obsessive-compulsive disorder (the girl who ate her hair was later diagnosed with obsessive compulsive disorder) or schizophrenia (there have been reported cases where voices tell people to eat non-food items)

> pregnancy - the most commonly eaten non-food item during pregnancy is ice chips, and women who exhibit pica disorder symptoms while pregnant may have had symptoms beforehand

So, pica disorder is something to watch for and be aware of, as you might end up in the hospital having 15 inches of hair removed from your stomach! If you have cravings for non-food items, please contact your physician and let them know. Let them know that you have been reading about pica disorder and are interested in talking with them more about it!

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There are two main ways depression and anxiety are treated during pregnancy; psychotherapy and antidepressant medication. If you need to, contact your physician or your nurse (or even your doula) to see if they have a psychotherapy recommendation. (I’m sure that they’ll have great words of advice for you.) Your psychotherapy may involve a dose of anti-depressants, which their use during pregnancy is not completely without risk, research provided by the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry (at their 53rd Annual meeting in San Diego) showed that there may be more problems in not treating depression & anxiety during pregnancy.

*Women with major depression are more likely to give birth early (at an average of 35.6 weeks … compared to 39.4 weeks).
*Depressed mothers may give birth to babies with more cortisol (stress hormone) in their cord blood; although the difference is not “statistically significant.” (They mentioned that a larger sampling of babies is necessary to determine this meaning.)
*Depressed mothers may give birth to babies with lower motor-maturity than non-depressed mothers.

There are, however risks to taking SSRI’s (Prozac, Zoloft, Luvox, Paxil, Celexa & Lexapro), they have been mostly considered safe. A study published in Feburary 2006 in an issue of the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine found realized that nearly 1/3 of newborns whose mothers took antidepressants during pregnancy gave birth to babies who dealt with “neonatal abstinence syndrome.” This leads to high-pitched crying, tremors, disturbed sleep, gastrointestinal problems and an abnormal increase in muscle tone (hypertonicity). No child has shown to need medical intervention during this syndrome, but it is uncomfortable.

Even with this in mind, you must remember that women who stop their anti-depressant medications are more likely to relapse into depression; and a mother’s stress hormones may contribute to a risk to the developing fetus.

A story I read from the Med Pages forum almost scared me into the idea of always taking my antidepressants; even while pregnant: “Susan (not her real name), a member of our forum community, was determined to do everything possible to ensure her baby’s well-being. She ate right, exercised, didn’t drink or smoke, never missed a doctor’s appointment, and stopped taking her antidepressants “just in case they might hurt the baby”. During the seventh month of her pregnancy she began to think that maybe her husband and baby would be better off without her. At that time, she says, “My thoughts made perfect sense. I felt I was a burden to my husband because of my depression and that my baby would be better off being raised by someone without my problems.” Her plan, she says, was to wait until the baby was born and then commit suicide. After the baby was born and she had resumed taking Prozac, she said, “I was amazed that I could have thought such things and actually believed that they made sense.”" Antidepressants may have helped Susan through her sucidal thoughts (but everyone is different; remember!)

Please, if you’re feeling depressed, speak to someone. Even if you’re not pregnant!

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Most times when people talk about pregnancy, they speak of the great joys, the physical pain and the anticipation of becoming a mother; however, the fact that at least one in ten women (10%) live with depression during pregnancy.

It used to be that health care providers believed that pregnancy hormones were a protection against depression; this meant that women were more vulnerable immediately after birth when their hormone levels plummeted. However, research has shown that the rapid change in hormones at the beginning of pregnancy can trigger a such a change in brain chemistry that it can lead to depression. These hormonal changes can make a woman feel even more anxious about her pregnancy and this anxiety can and should be treated.

Unfortunately, this pregnancy-induced depression & anxiety can go undiagnosed because women may chalk their feelings up to the belief that “every” woman gets moody during pregnancy. If you are pregnant and even slightly feel that your depression is more than what it “normally” is for you, please don’t be shy and speak up. Tell someone who cares, or call your physician. There are medications and treatments that are safe for pregnant women. Your physical health is affected by your mental health (I wrote a post about this a while back, remember?) and so being treated for your depression & anxiety during pregnancy is one of the smartest actions you can take.

Tuesday; Treatments for depression & anxiety during pregnancy.

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Getting Dirty May Help Your Mood - Treatment of mice with a ‘friendly’ bacteria, normally found in the soil, altered their behavior in a way similar to that produced by antidepressant drugs, reports research published in the latest issue of Neuroscience.

Obesity Struggle May Begin in the Womb - Mothers-to-be who gained weight within medical guidelines were about four times more likely to have children who were overweight at age 3 than those who remained slimmer while expecting, according to the Harvard University research.

Insurer to pay boy’s breast surgery - A health insurer must pay for the breast-reduction surgery of a Long Island teen who was burdened with unusually large breasts for a boy, a state appeals court has ruled.

$500M Pledged to Fight Childhood Obesity - To halt a trend building over the past four decades, the foundation is offering to fund programs that focus on improving access to affordable healthy foods or on how to increase physical activity in schools and communities.

Overweight People More Likely to Develop Asthma - The chance of developing asthma is 50 per cent higher for overweight and obese people, compared with individuals whose weight is normal, analysis of seven studies on severe asthma shows.

Nurses ‘Injured’ Caring for Obese Patients - Around 5,000 nurses are currently being treated for back pain following a surge in patients’ weights and the number of patients a nurse has to care for, according to the British Chiropractic Association.

Stress & Depression are Major Causes of Premature Births - Research shows that stress hormones - which play a crucial role in the development of the unborn baby - shoot up in women who are depressed during pregnancy.

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