Treatment Options

Social Support

Social support is one very good way to treat a maternal mental health complication like depression or anxiety. Attending a support group has shown to help women feel more hopeful and less isolated. You can see what support groups are going on this week by clicking the button below.

Therapy

Therapy has shown to be one of the best ways to treat maternal mental health complications. Therapy can be done in person or online. If you decide to try therapy, visit our page called How to Access Care to learn about the different ways you can find the right therapist.

Medicine

There are medications that have shown to be very effective in treating maternal mental health complications. Some of these are SSRI’s, mood stabilizers, and the first FDA-approved drug to treat postpartum depression called Zulresso. There is no shame if you need to take medicine to get better. Imagine if someone needed eyeglasses because it was hard to see, you wouldn’t just tell them to squint to see better. It’s ok if this is your path. And remember, for many women, they don't need to take medicine forever. And if you do, think of it like needing glasses for your brain. Consider medicine as a cast for your neurotransmitters. If you should need more information on taking medicine during pregnancy or while breastfeeding, you can reach out to MothertoBaby for free advice. If you want to learn more about Zulresso you can reach out to Sage Central for more information. If your provider would like to prescribe you medicine but needs more support and guidance, you can let them know that Postpartum Support International has a free perinatal consultation line for physicians. They can get more information here on how to get a consultation with a reproductive psychiatrist.

Acupuncture

Omega 3’s

Mindfullness

Vitamin D

Yoga

Excercise

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy “CBT”

CBT a type of therapy that has been shown to be very effective in helping with working with negative thoughts and feelings and the endless thought loop that can happen when you experience them. CBT works to help deal with overwhelming problems in a more positive way by breaking them down into smaller parts.

Psychotherapy

According to the American Psychiatric Association, “psychotherapy, or talk therapy, is a way to help people with a broad variety of mental illnesses and emotional difficulties. Psychotherapy can help eliminate or control troubling symptoms so a person can function better and can increase well-being and healing.”

EMDR

According to EMDRIA, EMDR stands for “Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)” It is a type of therapy that has shown to be effective to help people recover from trauma and other distressing life experiences, including PTSD, anxiety, depression, and panic disorders.