Taboo Tuesday- Perinatal Obsessions

[Anxiouslybalanced]

It’s time for Taboo Tuesday! I am Krista Reed OCD specialist in Wichita, KS for October, National Pregnancy, and Infant Loss Awareness Month, I will be talking about something very personal to me, perinatal OCD. This can affect all genders and can occur during the pregnancy and after the born is born.

Obsessions, which are ego dystonic/unwanted and outside of the person’s personality, can be thoughts, images, or impulses that an individual experiences repeatedly.

For perinatal ocd, these obsessions might include:

The bottle might be dirty; therefore, my baby might get dirty.

Unwanted sexual thoughts about your baby.

Your baby dying from SIDS.

A miscarriage believed to be caused by something you may or may not have done.

What if I am a bad mother because I cannot produce breastmilk?

What if I lose control and harm my baby?

What if my spouse harms my baby?

What if I chose the wrong religion for my baby and they go to hell?

Far too often Perinatal OCD is not being assessed and several parents fear repercussions from medical professionals or child protective services if their obsessions are disclosed.

Remember OCD is treatable.

Seek out a therapist who is trained in ERP or ICBT.

Discussion compulsions these individuals might experience.

Remember- Stigma and shame die where communication and validation live

[lml885]

I guess you are trying to be PC or woke but you and everyone knows that only female anatomy is capable of pregnancy and birth. It doesn’t affect “all genders”. While gender is different than sex people seem to conflate the two, and I am tired of this female erasure. I don’t even see you using the word woman, as if it is offensive or something and that is offensive to women including myself who may be too afraid to speak up. As adult females capable of pregnancy, we know that these anxieties only impact us. A woman or teen girl who gets pregnant can call herself whatever gender, but that doesn’t change female anatomy/biology. How we neglect something so essential to being female in the name of….whatever is so astounding it is unreal.

[Anxiouslybalanced in reply to lml885]

Perinatal ocd can affect fathers, foster parents and even adoptive parents.

[lml885 in reply to Anxiouslybalanced]

Okay I agree that it can affect fathers and women who haven’t been pregnant as I haven’t been pregnant and suffer from OCD and Tokophobia. I perhaps jumped on this a bit, I’ve just seen a lack of the use of female when it comes to certain issues and how it uniquely impacts female bodies as far as hormones and post-partum OCD. I guess I figured adult females who’ve given birth would be more impacted even more than me especially if they’ve had prior mental health concerns. Pardon for being slightly defensive and thanks for raising the issue.

[Anxiouslybalanced in reply to lml885]

Absolutely! It can certainly be a hot button situation for many. You are more than welcome to your opinions, and I appreciate your openness to learning more. ❤️

[lml885 in reply to Anxiouslybalanced]

I actually did write an article about the tokophobia I experienced as I used to have major anxiety and ocd symptoms around unwanted pregnancy. So I did do research do know a lot but not a lot of research is done regarding adoptive parents having it. It isn’t always talked about but it’s important we discuss it in mental health realms