Posted by The topic I chose to cover is Postpartum Psychosis and the objective it relates to is disorders in pregnancy and their causes. Postpartum Psychosis (referred to from now on as PPP) begins shortly after birth, this makes it unlike many other mental illnesses because the time of onset is known, being shortly after birth. The three categories of postpartum psychosis are Mania, Mixed episode, and Depression, while the main symptoms are confusion, delusions, anxiety, depression, dissociation, and hallucinations. The most common delusions are delusions of persecution, in which the mother believes that someone or something has an intent to hurt the baby (Cleveland Clinic, 2022). What makes PPP more similar to many mental illnesses is that the cause is not entirely clear.
PPP is tied to a number of risk factors including previous psychosis or bipolar diagnosis, a family history, major life events, lack of sleep, and discontinuation of mood stabilizers, and the most reliably tied risk is previous births with resulting postpartum depression (Kendall et. al., 1987). A potential cause is the rapid change in steroid hormones such as cortisol and serum estradiol that occurs shortly after childbirth. Because this change in hormones only induces depressive symptoms in women with previous postpartum depression, it is thought to be a sensitivity to the change that causes PPP rather than the change itself (Maguire, 2019). PPP is also thought to be simply Bipolar Disorder manifesting for potentially the first time, with childbirth as the trigger for the episode (Perry et. al., 2021).
In my art project I chose to represent the mother holding the baby, while the baby has a halo and the mother’s eyes are obscured. This shows the mother’s delusion or hallucination, and the halo is to represent a somewhat less common but still recurrent delusion that the child is a religious figure (Cleveland Clinic, 2022). Around the mother and child I drew several hands reaching out to grab the mother and baby. Each of these arms represents a different cause or risk factor for Postpartum psychosis. The first arm has children and the word ‘mama’, which shows the reliable tie that postpartum psychosis has to multiparity, or having previous births especially if postpartum psychosis occurred before. The next arm shows a prescription bottle with scattered pills and the words ‘like before’ and ‘same as before’. This references both the discontinuation of mood stabilizers and the previous conditions of either psychosis or bipolar disorder. The third arm contains the words ‘tragic’, ‘terrible’, and ‘poor thing’. It also shows a grave. These represent the influence of major life events, such as the loss of a parent or partner. This major life event could also be something such as being fired or laid off, or a natural disaster, or a recurring stressful situation and does not have to be a death, I simply chose to illustrate a death. The fourth and final arm shows alarm clocks and the words ‘get up’ and ‘wake up’. These alarm clocks show the time as three in the morning and approximately two twenty-five in the morning. This shows the impact of sleep deprivation and the need to wake up frequently in the middle of the night to care for an infant.
References
Cleveland Clinic. (2022, September 13). Postpartum Psychosis: What It Is, Symptoms & Treatment. Cleveland Clinic. Retrieved April 16, 2025, from https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/24152-postpartum-psychosis
Bergink, V., Rasgon, N., & Wisner, K. L. (2016). Postpartum Psychosis: Madness, Mania, and Melancholia in Motherhood. American Journal of Psychiatry, 173(12), 1179–1188. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajp.2016.16040454
Kendell, R. E., Chalmers, J. C., & Platz, C. (1987). Epidemiology of Puerperal Psychoses. British Journal of Psychiatry, 150(5), 662–673. doi:10.1192/bjp.150.5.662
Maguire, J. (2019). Chapter 12 – Hormonal and immunological factors in postpartum psychosis. In Biomarkers of Postpartum Psychiatric Disorders (pp. 159-179). Nikki Levy. 4/16/2025
Perry, A., Gordon-Smith, K., Jones, L., & Jones, I. (2021). Phenomenology, Epidemiology and Aetiology of Postpartum Psychosis: A Review. Brain Sciences, 11(1), 47. https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci11010047
This project is exploring Postpartum Psychosis (PPP), which is a rare, but severe mental health disorder that occurs right after childbirth. The onset time is typically within the first couple days after delivery and comes in three different forms; mania, mixed episode, and depression. The symptoms include confusion, and delusions that the baby may get harmed. There are many risk factors that are known including family history of bpd, hormonal changes, or prior episodes of postpartum depression. Major stressors in life also play a role. The media goes on to show the visual representation of these elements with a mother holding her baby. The halo symbolizes the delusion that the child is somewhat a religious figure. The hands reaching towards the mother and child showcase different risk factors of the condition that could harm both parties. There is a prescription bottle that says “like before” which represents a history of mood disorders or family history. The third arm contains the words ‘tragic’, ‘terrible’, and ‘poor thing’. These represent the influence of major life events, such as the loss of a parent or partner. This is to illustrate the idea of death. There are also alarm clocks displayed which are supposed to symbolize sleep deprivation which is one of the common risk factors of the disease. There are so many different details to the media that symbolizes each part of the condition not only externally but also internally with the women’s mental state. This is a great project!