Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and pregnancy unfortunately can go hand-in-hand with each other as it’s relatively common and persistent during and after pregnancy. Over a lifetime, PTSD occurs in around 10% of all women, with at least a third of them having this disorder for five or more years. Given that PTSD is relatively high amongst young women in general, many are now beginning to experience this disorder through pregnancy.
PTSD is diagnosed to an individual when they have a number of persistent symptoms related to a particular event, which can include re-experiencing the event either through a nightmare or flashbacks, avoid expressing emotion, seeing people or visiting places associated with the event and having a relatively high level of anxiety. These following triggers can lead to a number of symptoms that include insomnia, startling easily or irritable, on-edge and outbursts in anger.
Overall, studies have conclusively come up with that PTSD rates are higher in pregnant women than non-pregnant women, which can be due to a number of factors through the pregnancy. Any mistakes made by the medical professionals during or after the pregnancy can cause PTSD, which means that medical negligence may have occurred and could entitle you to compensation.
As for women who unfortunately have PTSD relating to childhood abuse could potentially become concerned about becoming a parent and their anxiety could worsen. Moreover, any physical changes that could occur during pregnancy or routine prenatal care can trigger symptoms. Overall, there are a vast number of triggers that can contribute to causing PTSD and increasing anxiety.
Sampling errors could be the reason as to why the PTSD rates are reportedly high as some symptoms of a normal pregnancy, such as insomnia, overlap with the PTSD symptoms, therefore it falsely elevates the report.
For women who unfortunately have PTSD, treatment is available. The first line of treatment that are available are antidepressants and psychotherapy. When the therapy applies to women who are pregnant, it should predominately focus on establishing safety and ensuring they’re able to cope with any active symptoms. As for exploration of traumatic events, this should only be applied when women are not in crisis.
Given that the symptoms could worsen, it’s recommended that exploratory therapy during pregnancy or the postpartum period is avoided. The best thing to do is discuss the risks and benefits of treatment with your doctors and ensure that medication is only used when the benefits outweigh the risks.
There are a number of triggers that can cause PTSD to occur through pregnancy, some of which you wouldn’t expect. There are a number of ways which you can help yourself and receive assistance to help you overcome these issues. Depending on how the PTSD was caused you can gain help through therapy, medication or if the PTSD was caused through neglect, then you could claim compensation to help you overcome the traumatic experience.