How to treat postpartum depression?

Postpartum depression, also known as puerperal depression, refers to the fact that women often lose their appetite, feel depressed, become easily irritated, and have difficulty handling daily affairs after giving birth. If left untreated, the condition may become more severe and last longer. So how to treat postpartum depression? The editor here has some small methods to recommend!

Treatment of postpartum depression:

There are many treatment methods, the most commonly used ones include medication, physical therapy, and psychotherapy. But for patients with depression, they should avoid using medication as much as possible due to the side effects of the medication.

1. Drug treatment. Tricyclic antidepressants are still the first-line drugs for treating depression. Second-generation atypical antidepressants are second-line drugs. The efficacy of various tricyclic antidepressants is comparable, and they can be selected clinically based on the intensity of the depressive and sedative effects, side effects, and patient tolerance. Imipramine and desipramine have weak sedative effects and are suitable for depressed patients with psychomotor retardation. Amitriptyline and doxepin have strong sedative effects and can be used for patients with anxiety, agitation and insomnia. However, tricyclic drugs have significant anticholine and cardiovascular side effects and should be used with caution. There are many types of second-generation atypical antidepressants, with selective 5-HT reuptake inhibitors such as fluoxetine, paroxetine, and sertraline being the most widely used, with few side effects, good safety, and can be used for long-term maintenance treatment.

The treatment of bipolar depression is the same as that of unipolar depression, but bipolar patients may develop hypomania when taking antidepressants, so antidepressants and lithium carbonate are often used together.

Patients with depression accompanied by hallucinations and delusions often need to use antipsychotic drugs in combination, such as fluphenazine and sulpiride.

2. Physical therapy.

By increasing the secretion of 5-HT, promoting the release of norepinephrine, and enhancing the excitability of nerve cell activity, it can relieve the individual's depression. By promoting the secretion of endorphins with a calming effect, patients can maintain a relaxed and comfortable mental state, which helps to better alleviate their previous negative and depressed emotional state. In addition, by improving the patient's brain waves and various physiological indicators, it can improve the various physical symptoms of depressed patients.

At present, the more mature method of physical therapy abroad is transcranial microcurrent stimulation therapy (CES for short). There are alpha-stim, fisherwallace, health pax and so on. At present, only Alpha-Stim SCS (Chinese: Ansiting) has been introduced into China.

3. Electric shock therapy. Patients with depression should strictly prevent self-harm and suicide. For those with strong suicidal ideas, electric shock therapy can achieve immediate results, and medication and consolidation can be used after the condition stabilizes.

4. Psychotherapy. Psychotherapy plays a very important role in the treatment of this disease, but it is usually combined with drug therapy and physical therapy.