Citation

Khan TM. Ment. Health Fam. Med. 2011; 8(1): 7-9.

Affiliation

Senior Lecturer, College of Clinical Pharmacy, King Faisal University, P.O. Box 400, Al-Ahsa, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2011, Radcliffe Publishing)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

22479287

PMCID

PMC3134208

Abstract

Postnatal depression (PND) is a major psychiatric challenge to women's mental health worldwide. Particularly speaking of the Asian subcontinent i.e. India and Pakistan (Indo-Pak), many women suffer through PND but remain undiagnosed, which may be due to lack of knowledge and awareness about alteration in mood and thoughts during pregnancy and after delivery. Certain factors like low socio-economic status, a history of marital violence and depression entail a higher risk of PND. In addition, one factor which remains neglected is the husband's knowledge about PND and his behaviour toward the woman suffering from PND. The husband's poor knowledge of PND and his attitude toward the mother play a vital role in the initiation of PND. Pre-delivery interventions focusing on a couple's knowledge of PND, the couple's mutual understanding/relationship and identification of the potential stressors for a depressive episode may be one way to reduce the incidence of PND among both women and men.

Language: en