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

It should be a time of joyous anticipation—the happiest time in a woman’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 misunderstood—until now. In this groundbreaking book, Dr. Shaila Kulkarni Misri, a leading reproductive psychiatrist, draws on twenty-five years of clinical practice and research to offer hope, help, and healing, 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, pregnancy-related depression is often cloaked in silence, shame, and denial. Pregnancy Blues lifts the veil on this heartbreaking and very treatable 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: how to recognize the signs and symptoms of depression—and know when to seek help; the role of female hormones: why women are more vulnerable to depression than men; how depression can hide behind physical complaints, such as back, stomach, or chest pain; the unspoken connection between infertility and depression; the antidepressant controversy: the facts on specific drugs, their safety—and when medication is the right choice; breastfeeding and medication—the risks and benefits. Plus helpful self-tests and resources, information on alternative treatment options—from therapy to acupuncture— and much more. A work of daring and compassion, Pregnancy Blues challenges the underlying traditions and beliefs surrounding pregnancy and motherhood—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.