Humans compare themselves to others around them. She has prettier hair. He has a nicer car. Why does she get the corner office when I have worked just as hard? Or the ever popular gym comparisons: I do the SAME exercises as her and yet, nothing. Then we beat ourselves up because we are not achieving the same end results as those around us.

We do the same when we are fighting a Perinatal Mood & Anxiety Disorder. “I’m on Zoloft. It only took so-and-so this many weeks to feel better so I should be feeling better by then too!” Then we hit that milestone and we may not be feeling better. It is so difficult to handle, perhaps even more so than the comparisons in the first paragraph because all we really want is to be better, to be back to ourselves and yet while we are running our own personal marathon toward mental wellness, we compare to those on the same road, forgetting that even on the jogging path, there are those who pass us.

New research out of Chapel Hill, by Dr. Samantha Meltzer-Brody, examined the heterogeneity (that’s a scientific word for diversity) of postpartum depression via a latent class analysis. What she discovered may put some minds at ease when it comes to fighting the battle of postpartum depression.

Turns out, according to Meltzer-Brody, that there are various “classes” of postpartum depression. What does this mean? It means we all are fighting different battles. It’s the same war, but think of it as different levels of skirmishes.

What varies?

“Women in class 1 had the least severe symptoms…., followed by those in class 2…, and those in class 3. The most severe symptoms of postpartum depression were significantly associated with poor mood, increased anxiety, onset of symptoms during pregnancy, obstetric complications, and suicidal ideation. In class 2, most women (62%) reported symptoms onset within 4 weeks postpartum and had more pregnancy complications than in the other two classes (69% vs 67% in class 1 and 29% in class 3).

Their conclusion?

“PPD seems to have several distinct phenotypes. Further assessment of PPD heterogeneity to identify more precise phenotypes will be important for future biological and genetic investigations.”

Why does this matter?

It matters because the more in depth our understanding of how PPD behaves is, the more successful we will be in treating it, and possibly even minimizing any severe episodes. In addition to external influences, there are also internal influences and biochemistry at work here. Thanks to Dr. Meltzer-Brody and other researchers like her, the very real possibility looms of truly individualizing PPD treatment.

For now, we continue to propel ourselves forward, going with what works for us, and in addition to fighting our own battles, remember not to judge those who are doing a bit better than we are. We are all on the same road but we are walking to our own struggles.

(photo source: https://flic.kr/p/d9soWC)