Prevention101: Series on Trauma: Episode 7 – Parenting in a Post-October 7th World. The series addresses questions regarding trauma following the massacre of October 7th and the surge of global anti-Semitism.
We presented questions from parents in New York and asked mental health professionals from Mayanei Hayeshua’s Mental Health Center to respond. This question was posed to Bella Schanzer, Senior Psychiatrist at Mayanei Hayeshua’s Mental Health Center:
Prevention 101 was created by Rabbi Yaacov Behrman, director of Operation Survival.
I had a baby on October 1st, and I feel stressed and scared. Could this be postpartum depression or trauma? Is there a difference in treatment?
Any psychiatric symptom that develops in the wake of having a baby could be and may be postpartum depression, and it definitely needs to be evaluated. If you’re having any of these symptoms that are described in the question, you should go see a mental health professional, at least a counselor but ideally a formally trained therapist.
You need to be screened; you need to be evaluated. Why am I being so emphatic about this? Postpartum depression can have long-term ramifications both for the mother and the baby. It can impact the mother’s ability to bond with the baby and to take care of the baby. It can have long-term impact on how the mother views herself as a mother. It’s extremely important to be evaluated. Now, is the experience of October 7 playing a role? It’s very possible, but it doesn’t even matter. If you’re having psychiatric symptoms in the wake of having a baby—stress, feeling isolated, feeling overwhelmed—you need to talk to somebody, the sooner the better.
