ORLANDO, Fla. (Ivanhoe Newswire)– The baby blues, also known as postpartum depression, can send new moms into an emotional spiral. And it’s not as uncommon as you might think. Research shows one in every nine new moms will experience postpartum depression. Now, researchers are looking at novel therapies to help these women cope.
Becoming new moms can trigger many emotions. But Natasha Williams wasn’t prepared for sadness to be one of them.
“I quickly found that what I expected to be the joy of motherhood to be, it wasn’t so for me,” explains Williams.
Like many new moms, Natasha suffered from postpartum depression, a condition that causes a severe, long-lasting depressed mood or mood swings.
Williams further explains, “I felt very sad. I felt overwhelmed. I almost felt trapped, as if I had made a huge mistake.”
Although talk therapy and anti-depressants have helped millions, now the FDA has approved a drug called Brexanolone specifically for postpartum depression. It’s given through an IV in a clinic over two and a half days. A new therapy called Zuranolone is also helping. In a clinical trial, women who took this oral treatment saw noticeable changes in their depression symptoms after just three days. Natasha says treatment with medication and counseling saved her, and she wants others to know there’s hope.
“Just know that it will get better,” encourages Williams.
The oral treatment Zuranolone is still being evaluated in clinical trials and isn’t yet available to the general public.
Source:
https://www.womenshealth.gov/mental-health/mental-health-conditions/postpartum-depression
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/postpartum-depression/symptoms-causes/syc-20376617
https://www.womenshealth.gov/mental-health/mental-health-conditions/postpartum-depression,
https://alert.psychnews.org/2021/07/oral-medication-shows-promise-for.html
Contributor(s) to this news report include: Julie Marks, Producer; Robert Walko, Videographer and Editor.
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