Having a child is a great responsibility. Suddenly, when a baby is born, his parents become the most important people for him, which depends on them for practically everything.
Most mothers, being so, feel a little nervous or anxious at first, especially when the baby is the first child and doubts about whether they are doing well assault. This is perfectly normal and logical, however, there are mothers who end up worrying excessively, suffering too much for it and becoming obsessed with trying to make everything perfect, getting to suffer what is known as postpartum compulsive obsessive disorder.
What is not a postpartum compulsive obsessive disorder
Surely after reading these two paragraphs many mothers will be thinking that "oh, mother, I care a lot ... to see if I will have that." To calm the waters I will give you the example of a mother who came to the office yesterday, with her 4-month-old daughter, full of doubts because more and more people were telling her that she was too involved in the care of her child.
He is breastfeeding on demand and, of course, you know, demand is sometimes very demanding, especially if there are close eyes that observe. If you are alone at home, then "hey ... I know he has suckled several times today, but I don't keep track of it." If you are accompanied and behind each take you receive a "but, are you giving it again?", Surely the demand seems greater. In fact, when there are people nearby and also want to catch the baby, the baby still sucks more, because he is more nervous.
In addition, the girl wakes up several times at night, as a good nursing girl, and of course, the girl ends up in bed with the parents many times to rest all, something that the family does not see anything well “because you are doing too much what the girl wants. "
In short, he asked me if he was spending time with his daughter to breastfeed on demand and to attend her at night without letting her cry as everyone advised. Evidently I said no, that she was simply doing as a mother, attending to her daughter when she needed him. No more no less.
What is a postpartum compulsive obsessive disorder
The mothers who suffer postpartum compulsive obsessive disorder are characterized by take some of the normal worries of every mother to the extreme. For example, if they are concerned about the hygiene of their children, they are able to bathe them repeatedly, several times a day, to make them clean.
They are women who almost constantly think about doing well, becoming so distressed that to control everything they conduct behaviors in a ritual way or in a very repeated way. Following the example of hygiene, if a mother is worried about germs, she can sterilize anything the baby is going to touch or wash the bottles for hours.
Other mothers, to give more examples, worry about the possibility of hurting their babies unintentionally. They get so obsessed with that possibility that in the end they flatly refuse to take their son in their arms, because they come to believe that if they catch him they will fall, they even refuse to bathe them for fear of drowning them while they do.
The cause of the appearance of a TOC is undefined
It is not known very well what makes a worried mother (100% of mothers, I suppose) end up developing a obsessive compulsive disorder (It is estimated that between 2 and 9% of mothers).
Let's say everything happens after normal worries. A mother may be bathing her child and think that in case of slipping she would swallow water and she would have to run it out, but it is a thought that immediately leaves and that, as the days go by, she disappears when she sees that the bathroom is a sure moment.
In mothers who develop postpartum OCD the thought not only does not disappear, but it becomes stronger and more intense, to the point that a mother ends up thinking that, if she bathes her baby, she will slip safely.
Returning to the issue of possible causes, it is theorized with the hormonal changes as possible causes or enhancers of the problem and it is known that mothers who have had anxiety disorders or TOC before having the baby they are more susceptible to it.
How to prevent the onset of postpartum compulsive obsessive disorder
Without knowing the causes, it is difficult to make a completely effective prevention, however some study has been done to know which action could be the most appropriate or to know if it could simply work.
In a study conducted in 2011, we worked with a sample of 71 pregnant women who had declared at some time before delivery to have enough anxiety. 38 of the women were enrolled in a preparatory class program that included OCD warning signs and some techniques to deal with symptoms should they occur. The remaining 33 women were given preparatory classes without talking about OCD. They were followed a month after having the baby, at three months and finally at six.
Although the sample is small and could be unrepresentative, it was observed that Mothers who had received information about OCD had less anxiety and had more tools and more skills in dealing with their "obsessive thoughts." than mothers who were not warned of it.
So, for those who expect a baby and did not know this pathology, I hope that thanks to having talked about it you have some more information than can be normal, after having your son (or daughter), and what could be considered pathological and likely to ask for professional help.
And to you parents or future parents, I say the same. It is you who will spend more hours with the baby and with the mother, so on many occasions it will be you who have to see that something is not quite right in the way of behaving of the mother, being able to be risky in a way for the baby (and to you future moms, the same if it is the father who develops a postpartum compulsive obsessive disorder).
