No specific treatment is required however, it should be noted that sometimes the blues heralds the development of a more significant mood disorder, particularly in women who have a history of depression. While these symptoms are unpredictable and often unsettling, they do not interfere with a womanвЂ™s ability to function. These symptoms typically peak on the fourth or fifth day after delivery and may last for a few hours or a few days, remitting spontaneously within two weeks of delivery. Rather than feelings of sadness, women with the blues more commonly report mood lability, tearfulness, anxiety or irritability.

Given how common this type of mood disturbance is, it may be more accurate to consider the blues as a normal experience following childbirth rather than a psychiatric illness. It appears that about 50 to 85% of women experience postpartum blues during the first few weeks after delivery. It may be useful to conceptualize these disorders as existing along a continuum, where postpartum blues is the mildest and postpartum psychosis the most severe form of postpartum psychiatric illness. Postpartum psychiatric illness is typically divided into three categories: (1) postpartum blues (2) postpartum depression and (3) postpartum psychosis. For most the symptoms are mild and short-lived however, 10 to 15% of women develop more significant symptoms of depression or anxiety. General Information: The Postpartum PeriodДuring the postpartum period, about 85% of women experience some type of mood disturbance.

Postpartum depression dsm 5