This is the first large-scale study that shows a link between childbirth and mental illness. "[The researchers] focus on severe psychiatric illness which really hasn't been done before, [and] is really important," said Dominguez.
Doctors -- and not just doctors who deliver babies -- feel this is a landmark study because it brings attention to an important public health need that is rarely mentioned. "The significance for this study in the medical community is that recognition is key to addressing this public health problem," said Dr. Dorothy Sit, assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.
"Often [postpartum mental illness] is not discussed," said Dominguez, because of the stigma surrounding mental illness. "Sometimes women are told to grin and bear it.
"I think there is a concept of superwomen, and some of the patients don't believe [mental illness] could happen to them."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pF1d8RS7h6o
Munk-Olsen and her colleagues also said that men may be more vulnerable to mental illness than the data lets on, because men may seek medical help for psychiatric illness less often than women do.
Study Offers Some Answers, Hope for Awareness
It's hoped that this study will not only educate physicians to look for earlier warning signs of depression but will also educate new moms and dads to look for the signs of depression.
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/story?id=2707237&page=2
