Postpartum Depression Can Happen to Any Parent — Here’s How to Help Someone Through It

Staff
By Staff
15 Min Read

Welcoming a new baby to the family can come with a lot of emotions. While a slight shift in mood after giving birth is common — sometimes called the “baby blues,” due to hormone changes — it’s usually temporary and mild.

But sadness that is long-lasting and severe can be something called postpartum depression (PPD), or if it starts while pregnant, perinatal depression, per the American Psychiatric Association (APA).

PPD is a mood disorder that can happen to any parent that’s welcomed a new baby, whether they’ve physically given birth or not, per the Mayo Clinic. And the condition can be tough to navigate.

“The sadness I felt as a new mom could only be described as a bottomless pit of darkness,” says LaKia Colquitt, MSW, LSW, a therapist at Intuit Healing in Chicago. “I felt unworthy, unloved, tired and increasingly sad,” she says. And while cognitively, she knew having her daughter was a wonderful gift, emotionally, “it felt like an almost unbearable burden,” Colquitt says.



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