Pregnancy Blues: What Every Woman Needs to Know about

Pregnancy Blues: What Every Woman Needs to Know about Depression During Pregnancy

It should be a time of joyous anticipationâ€“the happiest time in a womanâ€™s life. But for many women, the joys of pregnancy are clouded by feelings of fear, sadness, and confusion. And unlike postpartum depression, which is widely portrayed in the media and embraced by the medical community, depression during pregnancy has been rarely discussed and often misunderstoodâ€“until now. In this groundbreaking bookâ€“the first to focus exclusively on depression in pregnancyâ€“Dr. Shaila Kulkarni Misri, a leading reproductive psychiatrist, draws on her twenty-five years of clinical practice and research to offer hope, help, and healingâ€“as well as a provocative, myth-shattering examination of a subject that has too long been shrouded in darkness.

The numbers are surprising: up to 70 percent of pregnant women experience some degree of depressive symptoms, and of those, 12 percent meet the diagnostic criteria for major depression. Although it is at least as common as postpartum depression, which occurs after a childâ€™s birth, pregnancy-related depression is often cloaked in silence, shame, and denial. Pregnancy Blues lifts the veil on this heartbreakingâ€“and very treatableâ€“
illness, examining the key social and biological factors that can come together during pregnancy to create a climate in which depression and anxiety thrive, as well as offering the many effective treatments that are available. Discover:

â€¢ How to recognize the signs and symptoms of depressionâ€“and know when to seek help
â€¢ The role of female hormones: why women are more vulnerable to depression than men
â€¢ How depression can â€œhideâ€ behind physical complaints, such as back, stomach, or even chest pain
â€¢ The unspoken connection between infertility and depression
â€¢ The antidepressant controversy: the facts on specific drugs, their safetyâ€“and when medication is the right choice
â€¢ Breastfeeding and medicationâ€“the risks and benefits

Plus helpful self-tests and resources, information on alternative treatment optionsâ€“from therapy to acupunctureâ€“and much more. A work of daring and compassion, Pregnancy Blues challenges the underlying traditions and beliefs surrounding pregnancy and motherhoodâ€“and explores how those misconceptions have led to the drastic underdiagnosis and undertreatment of depression during pregnancy. A must-read for women and those who love them, Pregnancy Blues is at once an extraordinary roadmap to healing and an eye-opening report on a medical issue that no woman can afford to miss.

From the Hardcover edition.

Country	USA
Author	Shaila Kulkarni Misri M.D.
Binding	Paperback
Brand	Random House
EAN	9780385338677
Edition	1 Reprint
ISBN	0385338678
Label	Delta
Manufacturer	Delta
MPN	9780385338677
NumberOfItems	1
NumberOfPages	336
PartNumber	9780385338677
PublicationDate	2006-09-26
Publisher	Delta
ReleaseDate	2006-09-26
Studio	Delta

Pregnancy Blues: What Every Woman Needs to Know about Depression During Pregnancy

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