Postpartum Bipolar Disorder

With postpartum bipolar disorder, in addition to signs of postpartum depression, new moms may experience:

• Extreme mood swings, lasting for days or weeks
• Highly irritable mood
• Hostility
• Increased talkativeness
• Risky and/or impulsive behavior
• Racing thoughts
• Feeling easily distracted
• Feeling energetic, high or hyper
• Decreased need for sleep/insomnia

Postpartum Psychosis - This severe condition only occurs in 1% of postpartum women

A history of bipolar disorder increases the risk of developing postpartum psychosis, which includes symptoms such as:

• Delusional thoughts not based in reality
• Hallucinations often involving sight, smell, touch, or hearing voices
• Disorganized speech
• Excessively disorganized thinking that increases the risk of harming yourself, the baby, or another person
• Sleep disturbance and the inability to sleep even when the baby is sleeping
• Irritability, extreme agitation, restlessness
• Dramatic and drastic changes in mood