There needs to be better awareness and support structure for postpartum depression and postpartum psychosis. It is truly horrifying and when you’re a parent, you often don’t realize it’s happening until things are really bad. The mother has really scary intrusive thoughts (sometimes intensely violent) and often does not feel safe to open up and get help. There are many tragic stories out there where things spiraled completely out of control and ended up in infanticide or suicide, sometimes both.
Mothers and their partners/spouses preparing to have children need to learn how to identify it and have a plan for what to do if it happens. It’s more common than you might think, and support is needed when it happens.