Antepartum Depression: You’re Not Alone

Antepartum Depression: You’re Not Alone

Pregnancy can be a joyful experience- and a stressful one. Research suggests that 1 in 7 women experience symptoms of depression throughout their pregnancy. While you may be more familiar with mental health issues following a pregnancy, experiencing periods of sadness, loneliness, and hopelessness throughout this period of time is relatively common.  

Antepartum depression

Also known as prenatal depression, antepartum depression is defined by similar major depressive disorder or clinical depression symptoms. Difficulty sleeping, low energy, changes in appetite are expected throughout pregnancy. Women who are experiencing these symptoms for the first time may feel unsure whether this is normal and may be reluctant to address them with their healthcare providers as a result.

On the other hand, a woman's physical health tends to be the focus throughout her pregnancy rather than her mental health. Physicians may attribute your symptoms to your pregnancy rather than antepartum depression. 

In addition to these barriers, our society believes that being pregnant is the happiest period of a woman's life. Surging hormones combined with stress, anxiety, and pressure to feel endlessly optimistic can affect any woman's emotional state during pregnancy.

Signs of antepartum depression

Antepartum means "before childbirth" and only happens throughout pregnancy. With all of the expected changes that occur throughout pregnancy, you may not always recognize the symptoms of antepartum depression. A few indications may look like the following:

  • Increased anxiety in general or about your baby
  • Low self-esteem
  • Feelings of dreadfulness
  • Feeling unprepared or inadequate about parenthood. 
  • A lack of interest in things you used to enjoy
  • A lack of motivation to take care of yourself
  • Poor adherence to prenatal care
  • Smoking, drinking alcohol, or drug use.
  • Not gaining enough weight.
  • Difficulty sleeping or sleeping too much.
  • Hopelessness, or thoughts of suicide

 

It's important to note that your symptoms may be different from other women. Depending on your symptoms' severity, treatment options can range from psychotherapy, support groups, or medication. 

Treatment during pregnancy

If you're experiencing any symptoms of antepartum depression, the most important thing to remember is that you are not alone. Your prenatal care, primary care, and mental health provider can communicate with one another to ensure that you and your baby receive quality care. There are safe and effective ways to treat and manage the symptoms of depression, so contact one of your providers today. Asking for help is the first step to finding ways to feel better and enjoy this incredible time in your life.

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Therapists for Anxiety Disorders Near Me

Therapists for Anxiety Disorders Near Me

These days mental health does not give importance at all. This is only because people lack the understanding that better mental health is the only key to lead a happy and healthy life. There is nothing more important than your mental health. Therefore, in this post, we have mentioned different therapy types that you can go for if you are facing anxiety issues. You can also search for a therapist for anxiety near me and get the best possible options right away.

The best way to treat anxiety and depression is to become as informed and accept that you are going through such feelings and issues. Validating yourself in that way will give you an immense boost and confidence to treat yourself in the best way possible.

 

Types of therapy

Therapy may help develop an awareness of what you feel. Why you think in that way, and what I believe caused you to believe in this particular way. Once the issues and causes are noted down, these are then treated with the best type of therapy that suits you. As we know, every person is different, and hence, not the same kind of treatment can be given to each patient.

Mentioned below are the different types of therapies you need to consider before you visit your anxiety disorder therapists. Three of the more traditional depression and anxiety treatment methods are cognitive behavioral therapy, interpersonal therapy, and psychodynamic therapy. Usually, a blended approach is used to cure these disorders for better and efficient results.

 1.Interpersonal therapy:

This type of therapy that almost every therapist will consider every patient as this therapy gives them a clear brief and an overview of the victim's personality in depth. Therefore, interpersonal therapy focuses on the patient's troubled personal relationships that cause anxiety and depression.

 
2. Cognitive/behavioral therapists:

This type of therapy helps the patients to change the negative styles of thinking. The therapists help them in maintaining the frequency of the positive thoughts. With the help of this therapy, the main motive of the therapists is to understand the root cause of the depression and let it out from the victim's mind. This therapy also focuses on recognizing and changing the thought patterns and behaviors that lead to troublesome feelings. Patients find this therapy helpful as it also helps them control the negative thoughts and look at them more realistically.


 3.Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy:

The therapy was founded by Jon Kabat Zinn, and the theory seems perfect for the patients who found great difficulty in controlling their minds. This type of treatment is a mindfulness-based stress reduction model. This is also considered the combination of cognitive therapy with the entire principle of mindfulness. This therapy is designed for people who experience repeated bouts of depression or chronic unhappiness.

 
4.Dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT)

This therapy is developed to help manage borderline personality disorder. This also involves solo and group sessions, which increase the friendliness in the victim's soul—one of the best therapy to get the solution for anxiety disorder.

 

Conclusion

 Here, are the best types of therapies that you can consider while going to treat anxiety. You can also go for any other option recommended to you by your therapists according to your condition. Also, consider the symptoms from the start and visit the therapist as soon as possible for better treatment. You can also consider going to a counseling Champaign and get the best treatment for your anxiety disorder. This will help in considering your mental health at your highest priority. Hence, mental health is the key to better living.

5 Signs Your Partner is a Narcissist

5 Signs Your Partner is a Narcissist

“Narcissist” is a term we tend to throw around to describe a person that’s overly vain, arrogant, and selfish. The actual personality disorder is much more profound and can be devastating to experience within a relationship.

The most common traits are entitlement, grandiosity, and dismissiveness. Someone with a narcissistic personality tends to grow jealous and resentful when others are in the spotlight and have outrageous expectations for how their needs should be met. 

If any of this sounds familiar, read on to learn about how to recognize these traits in your relationship:

 

  • They "love bomb" you. One of the most effective ways of manipulation, love bombing, is the practice of showering a person with excessive affection and attention to gain control or significantly influence their behavior. The love bomber's attention might feel good. Still, in particular, narcissists are known for their skills at manipulation. They may use praise, charm, and attention as means to appear as if they're the perfect partner.  Narcissists move swiftly to avoid exposure, so the more someone tries to flatter you into obedience, their motives should be explored more diligently.

 

  • They feed off your compliments. They may come off as overly confident, but someone with NPD lacks self-esteem. They need a lot of praise. If they don't get it from you, they'll get it from wherever they can. That's why they're continually looking at you to tell them how great they are. Narcissists feed off of empathetic people. They rely on them to supply their sense of self-worth. Confident people won't rely on you or other people to feel good about themselves.

 

  • They lack empathy. Lack of understanding, or the ability to feel how another person is feeling, is one of the hallmark characteristics of a narcissist. Narcissists cannot validate and understand you. They don't understand the concept of feelings and is often the reason why their relationships fail. 

 

  • They gaslight you. A form of manipulation and emotional abuse, gaslighting is a hallmark of narcissism. Narcissists may blatantly lie, falsely accuse others, and make you feel like you're crazy.

Signs of gaslighting include the following:

  • You feel more anxious and less confident.
  • You question if you're too high-strung or sensitive.
  • You feel like you're always in the wrong.
  • You start to question yourself. 
  • You're often apologizing.
  • You make justifications for your partner's behavior.

Narcissists flourish off of power and being worshipped, so they use manipulation tactics to get you to do just that.

  • They’re never wrong. Arguing with a narcissist feels impossible because they think they’re always right. Narcissists refuse to compromise or take any responsibility because they rarely, if ever, think they're wrong. 

Getting help

Remember, these signs aren’t meant to diagnose your partner. It's meant to outline unacceptable behaviors and help you identify if your partner's actions are a sign of NPD.

If you determine you are struggling in your relationship, contact us today to learn more about how you can cope. 

 

6 Ways to Handle a Narcissist

6 Ways to Handle a Narcissist

Being in a relationship with someone who's always criticizing, belittling, and gaslighting you is exhausting. These behaviors can make you feel like you’re losing your mind and can pose an actual threat to your mental health.

If you suspect you’re in a one-sided relationship with a narcissist—here are a few ways you can handle them:

 

  • Accept them for who they are. Those with narcissistic personalities can turn on the charm whenever they see fit. This can contribute to their success at work, as they can be quite persuasive. Initially, they’re wonderful to be around. 

 

Despite having a "charming" personality, they often treat people much differently behind the scenes. Someone with NPD rarely cares about your needs and is often resistant to resolving this issue. Rather than trying to change them, accept them for who they are. It causes more unnecessary stress trying to persuade someone that believes they can do no wrong. 

 

  • Stop focusing on them. Attention seems to naturally gravitate towards a narcissistic personality-regardless of whether it’s positive or negative. Being in the spotlight is like gas in a car for a narcissist. This can become incredibly overwhelming for you, as the time and energy spent pushing your own needs aside seem like it’s never enough. Remember to prioritize yourself even if they won't. Your needs are just as important, and it's not your job to fix them.

 

 

  • Speak up for yourself. You’ve probably learned that the best way to manage them is by praising them or avoiding conflict in general. This only allows them to continue their behaviors, become that charming person again, only until the next conflict arises. Don’t expect them to understand, but if you'd like to maintain a relationship with this person, speak up for yourself. 

 

 

  • Set clear boundaries. A person with NPD is quite self-absorbed and may feel entitled to cross whatever boundaries they see fit. Own your boundaries and be firm in establishing what behaviors you refuse to tolerate. When things start affecting them personally, they'll likely begin to pay attention. Remember that you are in control of your life, regardless of how you’re treated by them. 

 

 

  • Find a support system. Dealing with narcissism is emotionally draining, so it's essential to have a healthy support system. Spend more time doing the things you enjoy and with people you feel comfortable with. One of the best things you can do if you can't avoid the person is to strengthen your current relationships.

 

 

  • Recognize that a narcissistic person may need professional help, even though they rarely recognize that they're the issue. They get easily offended despite your good intentions. And while NPD is a mental health condition, it doesn't excuse threatening or abusive behavior.

 

Getting Help

Remember that their actions aren’t your responsibility. And while you can’t change them, you can change how you respond to them. Contact us today to start your healing process, as there’s no need for you to go through it alone.

7 Tips For Coping With Grief

7 Tips For Coping With Grief

The pain that comes with a loss can be incredibly devastating. You may feel all sorts of challenging emotions-from confusion to anger, or disbelief, and intense sadness. Nobody could know exactly what you're going through, and you may not be sure what to do with these intense emotions.

7 Mindful Strategies for Decluttering Your Mind

While grief is a universal and inevitable part of the human experience, it's not easy. Here are a few tips to keep in mind while coping with grief:

Seek social support.
Talking to loved ones doesn't always mean talking about your grief, but it's a good place to start. Feeling connected is important. If you're not up for talking about your feelings all of the time, don't put pressure on yourself. Your grief process is your own, so how and when you choose to talk about it is up to you. 

Don't put time limits on your grief.
Although grief does decrease with time, knowing exactly when is hard to predict. Putting an artificial deadline on your grief can do more harm than good. Be patient with yourself and release any expectations.

Get outside.
Being outdoors is a relief. There are no questions, and nothing asked of you. Don't forget that nature plays a supportive role in nurturing our overall well-being and health; a key factor in easing the pain of grief.

Tend something.
Water your plants or brush your pets. Bake your favorite pastry or send a care package to someone you care about. Giving love and thinking of others allows you to get out of yourself for a while.

Sit with your pain.
Take the day away from your plans and relax in a comfortable space. Give yourself permission to cry and feel what you need to feel. Allow yourself to feel anger and name it for what it is. It's a healthy part of the grieving process and a normal response to feeling out of control or helpless about your loss. Remember, nobody is good at this.

Care for yourself.
Taking a shower, remembering to eat, and staying hydrated are all important to remember. These small tasks can feel like too much at times, but you'll feel a bit better.  Sometimes it's better to aim for getting through the next few minutes rather than an entire day.

Get creative.
Painting, writing, or playing music can be a powerful mood regulator. Whether it’s a journal entry or a blank canvas and a paintbrush, expressing emotion in an artistic form when you are hurting can be therapeutic.

 

Getting Help

Everyone grieves differently, and not every suggestion will resonate with you. Take it day by day, and remember, tomorrow is never far away.

 If you're grappling with grief for a lengthy period, working with a therapist can help you better understand your emotions. They can teach you coping skills and assist you in dealing with grief and finding relief.

 

Insight Therapy offers grief therapy and grief counseling. Schedule a free 30-minute consultation.