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Posted on:11/16/2009
Question
I had my baby over year ago and I had really bad postpartum depression. It got better when I started exercising twice a week. There are times I just get really sad and I cry for no reason or when I wake up I am just angry and really moody. What can help me stop this? I get really emotional and I don't know how to control it, but I just cry. Also I always have trouble sleeping at night or when I do sleep I wake up during the night. Is this normal?
Answer
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Hi: If you are trying the things you know normally help you feel better (exercise, good nutrition, staying in close touch with good friends and family, and sharing your feelings with them as well), and yet you still don't feel better, I would say consult with your primary care doctor. The sleep issue warrants this just in itself. Remember too that you are taxed by taking care of another human being (your one-year-old), with much less mental let alone physical and emotional time for yourself, new worries about his/her safety, and possibly emotional issues from the past coming closer to the surface too. Whatever may be going on, I'd say give this the focus it deserves and get the difficult looked into. It may be that some brief supportive counseling will help sort which issues are emotional and which more physical and/or behavioral. Good to keep asking. And good luck to you both.
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Answered By:
Susan McKenzie
, LCSW
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