Postpartum psychosis

Rare card · No. 33675

Postpartum psychosis (PPP), also known as puerperal psychosis or peripartum psychosis, involves the abrupt onset of psychotic symptoms shortly following childbirth, typically within two weeks of delivery. However, postpartum individuals are at risk for developing symptoms for several months after birth. Symptoms may include delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech (e.g., incoherent speech), or abnormal motor behavior (e.g., catatonia). Other symptoms frequently associated with PPP include confusion, disorganized thought, severe difficulty sleeping, variations of mood disorders (including depression, agitation, mania, or a combination of the above), as well as cognitive features such as consciousness that comes and goes (waxing and waning) or disorientation. Given the variety of symptoms associated with PPP, a thorough consideration of other psychiatric and non-psychiatric (or organic) causes must be ruled out through a combination of diagnostic labwork and imaging, as well as clinical...

Read on Wikipedia · Image Unnur Valdimarsdóttir1,2*, Christina M. Hultman1,3, Bernard Harlow4, Sven Cnattingius1, Pär Sparén, CC BY 2.5