All people experience moments of sadness. Usually, these feelings last for a few hours or days. Up to twenty percent of the people in the world, however, struggle with major depression, in which these moods last several days, weeks, or months. These emotions trigger the development of problems performance in work, family, or interpersonal relationships, which can become severe.



Females who exhibit signs of depression when they become pregnant are sometimes treated for perinatal depression. This problem may begin any time after pregnancy begins, or any time thereafter, until the infant is a year old. Most commonly, however, women who develop this illness after the child is born are diagnosed with postpartum depression.

Perinatal depression or postpartum depression may be caused by numerous factors. These factors may be physiological. For example, females with a previous or familial history of severe depression or other mental health problems are more likely to experience perinatal depression or postpartum depression. Furthermore, hormonal changes after childbirth, such as drops in estrogen and progesterone amounts, can cause depression. Postpartum thyroid disorders sometimes cause symptoms of depression such as tiredness, negative moods, and hopelessness.

Sometimes, mental depression results from emotional factors. Women may are tired and stressed as they learn to cope with the needs of the new baby. These feelings are further made worse by the absence of support from family, friends, or spouse. Financial problems may also assist in causing postpartum depression.

Perinatal depression and postpartum depression often have grave consequences for both the mother and her new child. Worry and depression may hinder a mother from bonding completely with her infant or being able to meet her infant's physiological and psychological needs. This may further compound the mother's feelings of insignificance, self-blame, and self-doubt.

The child is also stressed by the woman's problems. Failure to connect with his or her mother may cause the infant to experience trust problems in personal relationships throughout life. Moreover, babies who do not have their physiological or psychological needs met typically do not grow and develop normally. This problem, known as "failure to thrive," may be very serious or even fatal to the child.

Perinatal depression or postpartum depression can affect the entire family. The spouse or partner sometimes feels neglected or powerless to decrease these depression symptoms. This may severely wound the relationship. Other kids in the family may have similar feelings, and exhibit academic or peer difficulties as well.

Depression affects the whole family. Therefore, mothers who have perinatal depression or postpartum depression should get depression treatment as quickly as possible. Numerous techniques can be used, such as counseling and medication therapy. Medicines, however, may be risky for nursing infants, and may have unpredictable outcomes due to the tremendous hormonal fluctuations a mother experiences during these hectic months. Moreover, traditional counseling therapies can be lengthy and costly.

Two approaches for dealing with depression that do not use medicines and can quickly show incredibly beneficial outcomes are hypnotherapy and Neuro-Linguistic Programming, or NLP. Traditional Hypnotherapy is best used with persons who can be easily hypnotized or able to accept suggestions without needing to analyze or comprehend them. Ericksonian hypnosis is quite useful for people who tend to overanalyze. These therapies assist people to relax and get rid of tension.

For those who tend to be more critical or analytical thinkers, NLP is usually more beneficial. With this technique, trained professionals give clients depression help by teaching them to restructure their mental processes. This approach can, quite literally, aid a client think through the depressive mood and conquer it.

People can conquer depression by mastering NLP techniques such as anchoring. They learn to remember moments when they felt happy and controlled their situations. Remembering the memory renews these feelings. People are taught to touch two fingers together and remember these feelings. The subconscious mind connects the touch of the two fingers with the feelings. Hence, the finger touch becomes an "anchor."

Then, when the person begins to become stressed, he or she activates the anchor by touching these same two fingers together again. This brings back feelings of self-control and generates empowerment.

By using another strategy known as the Flash, people learn to think away negative feelings. They teach their subconscious minds to instantly exchange positive thoughts for negative ones. As negative thoughts arise, the brain instantly substitutes them for positive responses. After learning this technique, people find it nearly impossible to think negative thoughts!

Summary: Perinatal depression and postpartum depression can have harmful results for a mother and her new infant. The rest of the family may also be profoundly affected because of these conditions. Because of the probable significance of the consequences of this illness, women with depression should get help as soon as symptoms begin. Two quite beneficial treatments that do not require medicine or great outlays of time and financial resources are hypnotherapy and Neuro-Linguistic Programming.