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Postnatal Psychiatric Illness: the Impact on Partners

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

S. Lovestone  and
R. Kumar
S. Lovestone*
Affiliation:
Institute of Psychiatry, De Crespigny Park, Denmark Hill, London SE5 8AF
R. Kumar
Affiliation:
Institute of Psychiatry, De Crespigny Park, Denmark Hill, London SE5 8AF
*
∗Correspondence
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Abstract

Out of 24 spouses of women with postnatal psychiatric illness admitted to a mother and baby unit over 12 months, 12 were found to be psychiatrically ill, as defined by RDC or DSM-III criteria. The rate of psychiatric disorder was higher in these men than in a control group of men whose partners remained well after childbirth and a group of men whose partners were admitted to a psychiatric hospital with non-puerperal illness. The onset of psychiatric illness in the men typically followed admission of their wives to the mother and baby unit. Other associations with illness in the man were a history of chronic social problems, previous psychiatric episodes, and a poor relationship with his own father.

Type
Research Article
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 163 , Issue 2 , August 1993 , pp. 210 - 216
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1993 

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