Personality and Personal Development:
​Traits Associated with Postpartum Depression

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Postpartum depression can be serious and it is something that needs to be addressed right away. Being able to prevent it is something all women would prefer. While your personality type plays a role, if you have certain traits, you can create a personal development plan that will help you to deal with these traits and reduce your risk. When someone has this type of depression, the symptoms can be mild, or in some cases, very severe. The symptoms can include:

• Severe mood swings or depressed mood
• Trouble bonding with the baby
• Excessive crying
• Panic attacks and severe anxiety
• Thoughts or harming the child or self-harm
• Overwhelming fatigue
• Withdrawing from loved ones
• Appetite changes and sleep changes

Psychic Trait Anxiety

This type of anxiety is characterized by low self-confidence and high worry. Those who have this personality traits are twice as likely to experience postpartum depression. This is often associated with this trait making it hard to stay calm and collected in the face of a newborn's constant demands.

Neuroticism

According to research, this is the primary trait associated with this type of depression. Those who have it have a 400 percent chance of experiencing postpartum depression. They can experience this condition anywhere from six weeks to six months after they have given birth. This trait makes someone highly sensitive to issues like anxiety and moodiness.

Extreme Introversion

Those who are an extreme introvert are more likely to develop this type of depression compared to women who are extroverts or more mild introverts. This is because extreme introverts really value their alone time and when you have a baby, alone time is not common. The lack of personal space can also be an issue for someone who possesses this trait.

Mistrust

Some people are not very trusting by nature and this increases the risk of this type of depression six months after giving birth. This can be due to things like not trusting anyone to help with the baby. When a woman is not getting help, she is doing everything which can lead to stress, exhaustion and anxiety.

Perfectionism

When you have a baby, few things go as planned and this can be a major issue for someone who is a perfectionist. Those with this trait are more likely to experience a more severe form of this type of depression. This is because the new mom is likely overly critical and feels like she is not good enough.

Harm Avoidance

When someone has this trait, they tend to be worriers, easily fatigued and fearful of things that pose little to no danger. It is important to be optimistic with a new baby and to not worry over every little thing. It is also important to be open to the new experiences that come with being a new mom. Moms who avoid experiences based on the fact that they are fearful about what could happen are likely to become isolated and bored, two issues that can contribute to postpartum depression.

Interpersonal Sensitivity

If a woman is heavily focused on her own weaknesses, she has this trait. This often makes new moms feel as though they are not good enough and not worthy of being a parent. This can increase the risk of postpartum depression as well as general depression at any point during parenthood. It is important to not take offense to other's advice and things they say because this can cause harm to a mom's psyche and increase her risk of not being able to cope with the challenges that come with parenthood.

Body Image Issues

Pregnancy changes the body in a number of ways and a women with pre-existing body image issues can have significant problems after giving birth. This can increase the risk of depression since mom's body is different than what she is used to. This can lead to depression at any point in life.

As you can see, postpartum depression can be very serious for some women. You can create a personal development plan that works with your traits and personality type to help prevent it. Make sure to be honest about your personality type and to create goals for each trait on your personal development plan. This will ensure that you are reducing your risk as much as possible. You should also talk to your doctor to get more information about this type of depression and what you can do to lower your risk.

References:

http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/postpartum-depression/basics/definition/con-20029130

http://visual.ly/when-consult-psychologist-postpartum-depression