She had a rough pregnancy and delivery - depression throughout pregnancy, placenta insufficiency/ low birth weight requiring weekly sonograms that led to a two week hospital stay to untimely being induced and the baby being in the NICU.
Shortly after being released from the hospital , she started to experience insomnia and restlessness. She became obsessed with writing every thought down.
My family and I had thought that maybe she was just adjusting to being a new mom. However, she then became paranoid- thinking that “people “ were against her and that her instagram page was hacked , she blamed this on the child’s father. She then became obsessed with collecting evidence that he was the one that “hacked” her page , however , her evidence didn’t make sense. She then accused family members of conspiring with him. After noticing that she was not sleeping , showering, eating and fixated on being hacked, I took her to the hospital for a psych evaluation, they d’cd her the next day, to my dismay , and said she was not a threat to herself or the baby and discharged her home, encouraging her to seek therapy.
She refused to go to therapy because she doesn’t see anything wrong.
over the last couple of weeks, things have been getting worse. She’s hallucinating,
Example - she went to Walmart with her child’s father , she returned home and was highly emotional accusing him of trying to set her up . She was saying that people were asking for her phone and that he has someone following her.
In short , things are progressively getting worse . I’ve did some research and found her symptoms to be similar to that of PP.
I am unsure of what steps to take because , in her head , everything that she is “experiencing “ is right .
She has a therapy session scheduled , however, she keeps saying she doesn’t need it and refuses to consider medication .
I’m afraid that if she does accept therapy , the therapist is not going to know what we as a family are witnessing. When we were in the hospital she was talking normal to the doctors , like it was simply postpartum depression and that she is seeking help. However, this is not the case and I don’t know what else to do.
So I am asking for any advice / help
Thank you in advance
-A worried Grandmother/Mother
Written by
ConcernedGrandmother
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Thank you for reaching out to us here. My name's Jenny, I'm one of the national peer support coordinators at APP.
I'm sorry to hear about your daughter, it must be such a worry for you. I had PP after my first son was born in 2012, it's a very frightening and shocking illness for everyone involved and such a lot to go through at what you hope will be such a happy time.
I think from a couple of things you've said that you might be in the US? I know healthcare services are quite different to the UK but I do hope you can help your daughter to access relevant support. PP should be treated as a medical emergency as symptoms can escalate very quickly - it can of course be very difficult when the person who is unwell believes everyone else is the problem. Whatever her thoughts and beliefs are right now, they will be very real to her.
I wanted to signpost you to Postpartum Support International (PSI) as they are mainly US-based - postpartum.net/get-help/pos... - they have an emergency hotline that is available 24/7 to offer information and advice for those experiencing PP, or their loved ones.
In my own experience I think I always knew things weren't right in the lead up to then becoming acutely psychotic, so I was open to my husband seeking support. Others may be able to share experiences from their perspective of being in a similar situation to your daughter. I would suggest being calm and reassuring with your daughter, perhaps you could share some information with her about PP and your concerns, and that it's ok to need a bit of support, lots of mums do...
There is information on the APP website that might be helpful, including around supporting someone with PP...
Hello ConcernedGrandmother, it's good that you have found this forum, but I am so sorry to hear about your daughter and what she is experiencing at the moment.
I had pp in 2018 after the birth of my daughter, it was a very scary and shocking experience for us. As Jenny has mentioned, it's a medical emergency and symptoms can escalate very rapidly.
Just before I was treated as an impatient I oscillated between moments where I was completely rational and understanding that I was unwell, to other times where I felt I was on the right and everyone else was conspiring against me. It becomes very difficult for the close family to know what to do.
If my experience is anything to go by, at the high of my psychosis I was too unwell to benefit from any therapy and needed a psychiatric assessment and impatient treatment which at the beginning was focused on medication.
I will be thinking of you and your daughter very much, I hope she gets the help that she needs very soon
If you are indeed in the USA, know that I am also and would like to help. It does indeed sound like your daughter is experiencing some postpartum psychosis. In fact, paranoia and not sleeping were my first symptoms. Hallucinations are a big red flag. I too was not diagnosed immediately; no one knew what was wrong with me and kept calling it all kinds of other things. It wasn’t until my baby was ten months old and I quit nursing her that I became so outwardly psychotic that there was no doubt I needed to be hospitalized. I do not want you to get to that point.
Please go to the PSI website mentioned above and call their hotline for assistance. Massachusetts General Hospital also has an excellent website on PP and resources for help. She needs help and she needs it now. Don’t take no for an answer. I could’ve circled the world several times with the runarounds I’ve gotten. You will have to be her advocate as she is unable to do it for herself. If she will agree, have her sign forms allowing you to talk with her healthcare professionals. This way you can get your concerns directly to the people who can help.
This will be a challenge and I am wishing you strength with all my power. You might think about volunteering to take the baby if she is placed inpatient, so the baby isn’t put in foster care. That won’t necessarily happen but I have heard of it. There aren’t many mother and baby units available here but talk to the folks at PSI. They can get you to the right resources.
Please come here for support and let us know what’s happening.
Thank you , I’m definitely going to call the hotline for support . I’m extremely overcome with worry and the fact that the health professionals I talk aren’t supportive doesn’t help .
PS, it is imperative that you let this therapist she is going to know what you are seeing and that you suspect postpartum psychosis. Don’t assume they will know what it is or what it looks like. Spell it out to them, maybe even include the flyer from Mass General that talks about symptoms. While you don’t want to be disrespectful, PP is rare, and my lived experience is that most of my providers didn’t know what they were looking at. They’re looking for outward signs of psychosis similar to schizophrenia, or overt suicidality. Even if your daughter won’t sign papers to let you talk to them, there’s no reason you can’t send the therapist a letter or email telling them your concerns. When I had PP, there was quite a bit going on in my head that I wasn’t telling people because I was afraid they would think I was crazy. I was able to appear outwardly normal until the psychosis got very bad. Expressing your concerns to the therapist will at least give them a place to start asking questions from. If they have suspicions and are at all worth their salt they will start asking questions and realize there is more to the story than she first presents.
That’s my recommendation from having lived it, and the folks at PSI may be able to get you to a provider in your state and city who will for sure know what they’re looking at. If they can do that, go to that person and cancel the other. You need someone experienced. So definitely call their hotline.
I’m very pleased you have found this forum and that deep down you know that your daughter isn’t well.
I developed PP five months after my son was born and was obsessed with the fact the he was sick and not me. I did try to seek help from professionals on several occasions but nooone realised what was going on.
Please keep fighting for your daughter, she needs medical attention and the sooner the better. She will most likely refuse to accept it but with the right help now she can get better.
Sending you lots of strength for this difficult time.
I am so very sorry that your daughter is so unwell with Postpartum Psychosis and that you and family are understandably so worried for her. PP is such a cruel illness striking at a time when there would normally be mostly joy. I do so understand and can empathise with your natural anxiety, my daughter also suffered with PP, out of the blue, after the birth of her first baby seven years ago. PP was such a shock and trauma for her and we too as her family. It is very difficult and distressing to see a much beloved daughter suffer with this awful illness isn’t it. I remember my feelings of helplessness. I am so very glad that you have found APP, when my daughter was ill they were so very helpful and reassuring to me and later to my daughter. You have had some very helpful informative replies from the lovely brave Mums with lived experience of PP kindly willing to share. There is little I can add except to say that my daughter is well now, she went back to work part time a year after her illness struck, I would also say that she is fully bonded with her first born and four years later had another baby and due to her readiness and special medical care was this time incident free.
Though each Mum’s experience is different, sleep is very important for recovering, sadly recovery can take time and be up and down but take hope and hold onto the thought that your daughter can become well again. I hope you are on good terms with baby’s Daddy and perhaps together you can keep talking to the doctors and therapists and your daughter and hopefully your daughter can soon come to accept the right care and medication.
I know you feel that you are maybe not doing enough, I did, but please don’t underestimate the importance of your just being there for your daughter, supporting, understanding, caring, it means more than you know. I hope that you and your daughter have kind, understanding, helpful family and friends. If I may say, please do take care of yourself too, worrying and caring for someone dear to you is, I know, exhausting. I am sorry that there are no magic answers but ‘this too shall pass’.
Hoping that cuddles with you new precious grandchild is of comfort to you.
Thinking of you. With warmest best wishes from one granny to another.
Hello there, does she have a health visitor? Someone she can talk to about trauma. Will she read anything that she's given about birth trauma? When I had full blown psychosis I was full of fear. Tell her how much you love her and maybe tell her about your experience with child birth so that she can see the difference between a healthy birth experience to a not normal one.
This is so similar to me. They sakd I didn't have ppp but emotionally unstable personality disorder instead and wasn't hallucinations etc when I was. I think it was because I was so paranoid of everyone I wouldn't speak so they thought I was fine. Can ylu ask to get her into mother and baby unit. As then she will be monitored every day so they should notice something. I went into one before I got diagnosed with anything else. Also think gp can refer to a different part of mental health emergency teams so might be worth booking double appointment and telling them everything ylu know before they see her. Don't give up getting help. I desperately needed help and didn't get the help I needed because my husband was worried the baby would be taken away etc so kept telling everyone I was fine. I'm not blaming him but I 4hink i missed out on lots of help so keep telling everyone who will listen she will really need the help urgently x
Also I don't want to worry you but don't leave her on her own with the baby if possible. Don't want to scare you but my delusions were coming out of the baby which is when I went into hospital. I don't want to scare you but things can turn very quickly x
I hope that you are doing ok and that you have found help and comfort in the replies from sharing Mums here. Thinking of you and hoping that your dear daughter, struggling with this awful illness, is showing signs of improvement and that baby is thriving. It is so difficult isn’t it for you and your son in law but hold on with hope and keep going, with the right care, treatment, rest and understanding your daughter can become well again. Write here any time if it helps.
I hope by now you have been able to connect with Postpartum Support International for advice. It must be very worrying to see your daughter struggling so please remember to take care of yourself too. 🌹
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