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Step 1
Are you panicking? Physical symptoms of panic are rapid heartbeat, sweating or goosebumps, nausea, and most importantly the feeling that something terrible is about to happen or that something is terribly wrong. Many women are afraid for their children if they are home alone and simply fear having a panic attack while home alone with them (and so being home alone triggers an attack). Your attack may be a symptom of OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder)--the most common fear is that you're going to go crazy and hurt your child and so you're extremely afraid to be alone with them. See step 3 if this is indeed what you're experiencing.
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Step 2
Once you've put a name to your feeling, you can decide how to deal with your feelings. Is this fear legitimate? Is it unreasonable? Do you fear hurting your children (again, see step 3 for how to deal with this)? See step 3 for OCD fears, step 4 for reasonable fears, step 5 for unreasonable fears, step 6 for when your panic has no source, and step 7 for when you're having 'panicky' feelings all throughout the day.
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Step 3
OCD symptoms in PPD usually means you think 'scary thoughts'. I imagined myself hurting my child since it's generally thought that depressed women hurt their children. I would be extremely afraid to be home with him alone because I thought I was going crazy and was incompetent. It's not true! 'Going crazy', in most womens minds, means you've become psychotic. Postpartum psychosis is NOT a severe form of postpartum depression--and one can never become the other. They are two separate problems that have two distinct set of symptoms and two completely different treatments. If you imagine yourself going crazy and hurting your child, remind yourself that as long as that vision disturbs you--you are NOT psychotic and are in fact just suffering from OCD (the 'O' part, obsessive thinking). OCD thinking can trigger panic attacks all by themselves. Other scary thoughts that come from OCD are that you really ARE going crazy (which, of course, you're not!), that you'll NEVER recover from PPD (which is the most treatable from of depression!), or that you'll never get your life back. These feelings are also part of hopelessness, which is a normal part of PPD. Remind yourself that this is only a temporary feeling that you're having because your body is recovering from a hormonal/chemical imbalance and that your scary thoughts are just a symptom of the imbalance--NOT proof that you are incompetent or crazy.
If you are seriously afraid for your life or your child's life, call a friend or your spouse right away to come home and be with you until you can see a professional. Call the Baby Blues Connection, your obstetrician, or another medical professional and tell them what's going on so you can get some additional help or advice. And remember, this won't last forever! -
Step 4
So your fear is reasonable? There's money troubles at home, the baby has health issues, or your husband is five minutes late getting home from work and won't answer his cell phone (OMG, is something wrong??--yeah, I've been there ladies!!). Take a deep breath. Yes, you are going through a difficult time in your life. It's now doubly difficult because you are recovering from a serious illness. However, try to keep it in perspective. Ask yourself, "If I wasn't suffering from anxiety right now, would this problem be as big of a deal to me?"
Sometimes it helps to write down a plan to deal with the problem (if it's feasible) or to decide immediately what you're going to do about it ("ok, I'm going to wait another 10 minutes before I allow myself to worry about my husband being late, then I'll re-assess my worry again then"). I used to worry about the housework, but knew that cleaning up the whole house was going to be too much for me when I could barely get in a shower! Instead, I'd ask my husband and friends to help me out (as much as I hated asking) and found that I was surrounded by helpful loving people--getting the house picked up aided me in more than one way! You may not be that lucky with the housework or with the problem you're facing, but if you can at least make a LITTLE progress everyday, you'll feel much better! -
Step 5
If your fear is unreasonable (and it's hard to determine this while you're panicking, but try), besides doing everything in step 3 and 4, also try writing the fear down on a piece of paper and putting it in a box. Some people put it in the 'God Box', symbolically giving their unreasonable fear or reasonable fear to God. Another way to do this is to write down the fear and throw it away, symbolizing that you're not going to worry about it anymore. Will you worry about it anyway? Of course! That's the nature of anxiety. However, the more you practice this technique, the better you'll get at it. This is a skill you will come to appreciate all throughout motherhood, so try and take it seriously!
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Step 6
Many women who are NOT breastfeeding may have been given a prescription for **** (alprazolam) or Ativan (lorazapram) to help whenever panic strikes. 0.5mg is the usual dose for either medicine. I know that Ativan can be taken sublingually (under the tongue) to hasten its effects: take a sip of water, swish is under your tongue, then swallow, then put the ativan under your tongue and hold it there about a minute, then swish it around again and drink the rest of your water. It's best that you take this medication while someone is home the first time so you can see how drowsy you get. It's also OK to take a smaller dose (0.25mg) if it makes you too sleepy but you NEED something to take the edge off. However, test this dosage while someone is home just to be sure you don't fall asleep while in charge of little ones. You can take this medicine on a regimen throughout the day as well if you are feeling 'panicky' all day long. However, both medicines lose their effectiveness over time, so try not to overuse them. I only use it if I have to be functional (like when I take my son to therapy), or if I can't sleep.
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Step 7
Natural ways to help soothe panic attacks and anxiety include deep breathing, meditating, yoga, keeping to a schedule (so nothing out of the ordinary happens), herbal teas, and positive self-talk. Sunshine, movement, and doing things you enjoy can help gear up your endorphins which will help you overcome your feelings. Drink plenty of water (dehydration causes panic attacks!), get plenty of Omega-3's (grind up flax seeds in the food processor, store the powder in the fridge for 1 week, and take 2-3 tablespoons of it raw a day in any way you can manage), get as much sleep as a mother of a young one can (be aware that you will be more susceptible to attacks when sleep deprived), and be NICE to yourself!
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Step 8
Get your hands on a copy of "Postpartum Depression for Dummies". It's written by a woman who went through this already and can understand everything you're going through. Sometimes when I was feeling like just giving up and having a panic attack, I'd read through the section on how to cope with panic attacks and it'd set me at ease right away. I highly recommend this book--it's easy to read even if you are in the darkest (scientifically called 'acute') part of your depression. You will find nothing but compassion, understanding, and extremely helpful and practical advice for how to treat this disorder and get back to yourself as soon as possible.
