Postpartum psychiatric episodes can last anywhere from six weeks to 12 months, according to healthline. Dealing with the symptoms is extremely hard on a woman after delivering her baby. It is hard on those close to the new mother as well. And according to a new study, this is why partners who are dealing with postpartum mental health issues are at a higher risk for divorce than their peers not suffering from the same.
As a result of ever-changing hormones, women can have mood swings while pregnant as well as when postpartum. While this is very common, some women have larger swings than others, which can put them at risk for postpartum psychiatric episodes.
Those who do suffer these episodes can have delusions, be agitated, have hallucinations, insomnia, paranoia, extreme mood swings, and more, according to WebMD. This can leave women feeling helpless and at a higher risk for suicide. It can also put their relationship with their partners at risk.
According to researchers from the National Centre for Register-based Research at Aarhus University in Denmark, previous studies on the effects of postpartum psychiatric episodes on marriage show that women who suffer from the episodes have a higher rate of "dissatisfaction" in their marriage versus those who have had a relatively stable mood postpartum, per Healio. But because no studies had been conducted to determine if being unhappy in marriage during the postpartum period led to more divorces, researchers led by Benedicte M. W. Johannsen, MD, set out to determine if psychiatric episodes during this time increased the chances of couples going their separate ways.
The researchers studied data from Danish registers that included first-time mothers who had no history of psychiatric issues. These mothers gave birth between 1996 and 2014.
According to the study, of the nearly 277,000 women's data that was studied, it was found that almost 4,500 women suffered a mild/moderate form of postpartum psychiatric episodes which required medication to control, and over 1,100 required psychiatric inpatient or outpatient treatment due to severe postpartum psychiatric episodes. The rest of the women were put into the control group, as they did not present with any postpartum psychiatric episodes.
During the postpartum period, according to psychiatrist.com, the data on the family unit was checked on once a year for five years to see if marriages were still intact. What researchers found was that in the mild/moderate group, the risk of divorce was higher than in the control group and those with severe postpartum psychiatric episodes, were at higher risk still of divorce.
Researchers stated that they were not able to determine the reasons for divorce, nor were they able to see what interventions and treatments were being used for those who were suffering during the postpartum period. What they were able to determine, according to Healio, was that relationships are fragile and when something as large as postpartum psychiatric episodes is thrown into the mix, it makes the family unit that much more vulnerable.
The recommendation from Dr. Johannsen is that not only should women with mental health issues receive the help they need, but the entire family should also look into treatment as well. This will ensure, per the publication, that the "well-being" of the family unit is being cared for and hopefully, save marriages along the way.
Source: Healio, psychiatrist.com, healthline, WebMD