Just saw this article from Scientific American on how the brain changes in a woman who is pregnant. It'sso interestingto see what is going on inside us, of which we are completely unaware, as our bodies prepare us to be mothers. One highlight applicable to perinatal mood and anxiety disorders:
"Normally calm women may be disturbed to find themselves suddenly beset by new fears and catastrophic visions while pregnant. Indeed, the authors compare pregnant women’s threat-sensitivity levels to those found in people with anxiety disorders. But they suggest that the ability to recognize these threat conditions is an evolutionary adaptation to help females protect their offspring-to-be from harm …
Some new mothers suffer from depression and in rare cases, even psychosis. Research at Tufts University and elsewhere suggests some potential animal models and endocrinological mechanisms for postpartum mental distress, broadly defined. It suggests that hormones are to blame: an acute pull-back, addict-like, from the rich concentrations of steroids that characterize pregnancy may play a role in the severity of postpartum reactions …"
