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Course and Recurrence of Postnatal Depression

Evidence for the Specificity of the Diagnostic Concept

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Peter J. Cooper  and
Lynne Murray
Peter J. Cooper*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Reading
Lynne Murray
Affiliation:
Winnicott Research Unit, Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge
*
Professor Cooper, Department of Psychology, University of Reading, 3 Earley Gate, Whiteknights Road, Reading RG6 2AL
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Abstract

Background

It is unclear whether the causative factors of non-psychotic postnatal depression are the same as those of depression at other times.

Method

The course and recurrence of postnatal depression was studied in two groups of primiparous women experiencing an index episode of postnatal depression: those for whom the mood disorder had arisen de novo (n = 34), and those for whom it was a recurrence of previous affective disturbance (n = 21). The mental state of these two groups, together with a psychiatrically well control group (n = 40), was studied for five years.

Results

It was found that those for whom the index episode was a recurrence of depression were at raised risk of further non-postpartum episodes but not postpartum episodes, and that those for whom the index episode had arisen de novo were at raised risk for further episodes of postnatal depression but not for non-postpartum episodes.

Conclusion

These findings suggest a specific nosologic reference for the concept of postnatal depression.

Type
Papers
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 166 , Issue 2 , February 1995 , pp. 191 - 195
Copyright
Copyright © 1995 The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

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