I heard it here in an answer that adoptive mothers can get postpartum depression – how??!!! is that like a phantom pregnancy or something?
Postpartum: In the period just after delivery, as with postpartum depression. Postpartum refers to the mother and postnatal to the baby. From the Latin post, after + partum, birth.

Well, sort of. According to some web sites. But it's not technically postpartum depression. It's called Post Adoption Depression Syndrome, or PADS.

When I first stumbled across this term, I thought it referred to the ADOPTEE'S experience after being placed in a new environment. And I thought, "Finally, someone recognizes that adoption can have an impact on adoptees, too."

Instead, I found PADS is about adoptive mothers' post adoption 'let down'. "…which is not yet a distinct illness recognized by the American Psychiatric Association.

Psychologists often link new mother's depression to the sudden overwhelming demands of an infant and new financial responsibility, as well her loss of professional identity, social networks, and personal freedom. Sometimes depression is simply about not getting enough sleep or time to oneself."

It makes sense that some of the same non-hormonal causes of PPD might also affect new adoptive moms. The lack of sleep, the overwhelming responsibility, the (temporary) loss of regular contact with friends, etc.

However, I wonder. Could one cause of PADS be delayed (or supplanted) grief? When infertility plays a part in the decision to adopt, infertile parents may not take the time to fully grieve their "loss". Instead, they run headlong into the arduous process of adoption expecting that once they get a baby, their only emotion will be joy. Yet their grief is still there lingering in the background, buried, overlooked, denied.

Below are some web sites that explain PADS. Or google Post Adoption Depression Syndrome.

A family member is making excuses for every suggestion given to her. What can we do to convince her to get the help she needs. She is slipping further into postpartum depression.

Refusing help is a sign of depression. The more you try to help, the more they resent you for it.

The important thing is to keep yourself healthy and not let it affect the rest of the family or the child/children.

I hear alot of women who have experienced postpartum depression after giving birth. Some cases are severe and others subside. I was wondering has any ladies ever experienced postpartum despression if so how did you handle it.

after have my first daughter i didn't, but with my third child i had it bad, it scared me at first because people didn't talk about it as much as they do today. i cried a lot and i slept a lot too. the problem was i didn't know what was wrong and all my doc did was put me on vitamins and iron, because i had three young children 1 and 3 when i had my third everyone assumed it was just natural. but i new something was wrong with me i finally convinced my doc to put me on anti depressants which help a lot. so i would say today the best thing to do is talk to your doc and read as much about is as you can. following my doctors directions on coping really helped even if some of them sounded silly.

If a woman suffers from severe postpartum depression or postpartum psychosis, are there things she can do to treat herself and recover on her own (without prescription medication like antidepressants)? For example, is there any evidence that marijuana can be used to treat postpartum depression? What about meditation or diet?

"severe postpartum depression or postpartum psychosis"

Recovery from severe depression and postpartum psychosis seldom happens without equally serious medication … prescription anti-depressants and careful monitoring and counseling.

The ability of the depressed person to function well enough to actually do meditation and make diet changes is just not there. After some time on anti-depressants, the chances of being able to exercise, eat right and meditate increases.

Sait John's Wort, which is quite useful for mild depression, doesn't work well enough on severe depression.

Marijuana has no significant, clinically observed anti-depressant effects. It's a mild anti-anxiety drug.

I just had a baby 1 week ago and told my doctor how I was feeling and he gave me a medication for it. For you women who had postpartum depression and were prescribed something how long were u on the meds and how soon did u see it take effect? I'm scared that I won't get better.

I didn't seek help for my post-partum depression until about 3 months after I had the baby. I think I was in denial about it. Honestly, after talking about it with my family and doctor, I started feeling better knowing that I wasn't alone. My doctor prescribed Lexapro (10mg). I started feeling more like myself about 1-2 weeks into the meds.
Things will get better-the first step is getting help! Best of luck to you!

I am doing a research presentation on postpartum depression. I am looking for video clips that I can download of Andrea Yates, as well as other cases that have had mass media attention, or maybe just informational videos about ppd. Can anyone give me a site?

For any kind of Videos there's YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/
To download videos from YouTube and any other site :
Get Firefox from http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/
And then install the Download Helper extension from https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/3006/
It works great for me.

Since the videos are in the .flv format you need to get a flv player. You can get a very good one (and completely free ) here http://www.download.com/FLV-Player/3000-2139_4-10505954.html?tag=tab_pub

Also you can use this site http://javimoya.com/blog/youtube_en.php and copy/paste the url's from the page with the video there but personally I'd recommend using Firefox

Firefox is the best !!!

And for movies and anything else use http://www.torrentportal.com/ and http://www.bittorrent.com/ and http://www.torrentspy.com/
To download from this site you need a torrent program like these :
BitComet http://www.bitcomet.com/ or
Azureus http://azureus.sourceforge.net/

I dunno, it seems too common to be just coincidence. First off, I had my daughter in 2003 and didn't have postpartum depression after her. Then I had my son in 2006 and I am now suffering from PPD. Plus, I belong to an online group for mothers with PPD and I can't think of any of them with girls! There are 23 active members most with more than one child and recurring PPD. I'm not saying mothers with girls never have PPD but, could there be something scientifically speaking that makes moms of boys more likely to get it?
Just to be clear, I have had depression before I had kids but I can tell it got alot worse after my son. I couldn't function at all I just wanted to die. I am on medication now and I see a therapist and am doing much better

And I'm not gonna sit here and debate whether or not depression exists. that's not the question I asked. People who say it doesn't exist or its all in your head are just narrow-minded and obviously never had to deal with the illness themselves. and they should count themselves lucky. It is a real physiological illness, it's debilitating and millions of people have it.
I do thank god every day for my son. and I think despite the fact that I'm not anywhere near the best mom in the world, he will likely grow up to be a great guy. But knowing all that doesn't suddenly make me not sick anymore. Wish it did!

It is not gender specific at all….just genetic & hormonal. Some women are just genetically predispositioned for PPD. (Just like a woman can be for certain female cancers. I am for cervical, already had dysplasia a few years ago at only 21.)

It's actually the complete opposite in my group of friends. One had a girl & ended up with PPD but the others had boys & turned out just fine. Another friend has both a boy & a girl but didn't end up with it at all after either of them.

Hello, My sister has a 2 yr old boy, and recently had a beautiful baby girl, the baby girl was born with a very rare liver disorder so we as a family are dealing with this day by day. I want to know what can I do to make my sister feel better, I believe she has postpartum depression and just she is just soo overwhelmed, what can I do to help and make her feel important because she really is the best person / sister I have ever met.
Thanks

Just be there for her. I am suffering from post partum depression right now. I wish family will help me out a little and be there for me to talk to. Maybe you can spend the day with her and help with the kids.

Today when i woke i did not feel myself. I really havent ate much of anything and i want to be alone and all of a sudden i get really angery for no reason and then i start crying for no reason. I am 36 weeks pregnant and i was just wondering if you can have postpartum depression while you are pregnant.

You can definately experience mood issues!

With my son I did start having the depression issues you describe while still pregnant, and it continued for a couple of weeks after.

With other pregnancies I have had some depression during pregnancy and not at all afterward!

It can really vary. But try to think of it as something that will pass to avoid making yourself feel worse.

Hope it passes soon!
You’re almost there!!! :0)

my baby is 5 weeks old and i think i have postpartum depression… i am sad alot.. they say if you have been depressed before and if you are young you are more likely to get it… i have been depressed because 2 years ago when i was 15 my mom was murdered and i am a young mom.. i am now 17? can anybody help?

I'm sorry to hear about your mom, that is enough to upset anyone's emotions. Now being a young mother won't help. But baby blues are common, very common! but if it persists much longer tell your dr and they can discuss it with you..just know it's not unusual and they won't think you are nuts. IF you start feeling like the baby makes you angry when crying, or you feel anger or resentment or want to hurt the baby or yourself or others.., call a ppd crisis line and your dr the next morning etc…becasue that is serious depression and could be a bigger issue. other than that…just relax. thing swill be fine, it's ok to feel down. try to take some time to youself during her naps and if you get upset, put her in her crip and go take a braether..it's hard, but there is help if you get worse.