How long does PPD (Postpartum Depression) last?

Postpartum depression, despite medication...?

• I had my child a little over two months ago. I was on anti-depressants and anxiety meds before becoming pregnant, came off of them DURING pregnancy, had to go back on a different and safer anti-depressant for a couple months in the middle of pregnancy due to severity of depression, and came back off a few months before delivery so it wouldn't affect her once she was born. I felt awesome the first week or two (probably just because I didn't have to carry around a massive beast in my belly anymore), but as I got closer to a month, the depression came back with a vengeance. Like really, REALLY bad. I went back to my doctor and was put on 4x the amount of anti-depressants I was taking pre-pregnancy due to how bad it had gotten. Now it's been a few weeks, and though I'm functional and feel much better, I've noticed the depression keeps coming back. How long is postpartum depression supposed to last after you have a child? My depression in general has been a life-long issue, but this postpartum crap is like depression on steroids and is much harder to deal with. I'm combining the meds with a healthy diet and exercise and herbal teas for relaxation and etc., but rather than seeing improvement, it's only going in the opposite direction. Is this normal for a while? Is it simply hormones? Should I be concerned about any permanent changes pregnancy may have done to the chemicals in my body?

• Answer:

  I suffered from PPD for about 6-7 months after my daughter was born and it was one of the lowest points in my life. I love my daughter dearly, but that only seemed to make it worse. One of the things that really helped me pull out of it was that I got back into a few of the hobbies that I had before she was born. I needed to get my identity back. I really struggled with the antidepressants too, none of them seemed to work for me and many of them just made things worse. There are some online PPD groups where you can discuss things with other moms who are going through the same thing, but I never found that they helped me very much. The in-person groups were even worse for me. What really helped me was getting back into fighting and judo. It was something I was very involved in before I got pregnant and it allowed me to just be myself again. No one really asked about the baby and no one really cared that I was "Jordynn's Mom", I was just "Diann" again. I don't know if that would work for everyone, but it really helped me.