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Life Stress and Post-Partum Psychosis: a Preliminary Report

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 August 2018

M. N. Marks ,
A. Wieck ,
S. A. Checkley  and
R. Kumar
M. N. Marks*
Affiliation:
Institute of Psychiatry, De Crespigny Park, Denmark Hill, London SE5 8AF
A. Wieck
Affiliation:
Institute of Psychiatry, De Crespigny Park, Denmark Hill, London SE5 8AF
S. A. Checkley
Affiliation:
Institute of Psychiatry, De Crespigny Park, Denmark Hill, London SE5 8AF
R. Kumar
Affiliation:
Institute of Psychiatry, De Crespigny Park, Denmark Hill, London SE5 8AF
*
Correspondence
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Abstract

This is a preliminary report from a prospective study of the influence of psychosocial stressors on post-natal relapse in women at high risk of psychiatric disorder after childbirth. Forty-three index subjects with a previous history of psychosis or severe depression were compared with 45 pregnant control subjects without any previous psychiatric disorder. After delivery 51% of index subjects relapsed (RDC diagnoses): 28% were categorised as psychotic and 23% non-psychotic. All psychotic relapses were in women with a previous history of bipolar or schizoaffective disorder (46% of this subgroup). Only the non-psychotic post-partum relapses (mostly depressions) were associated with an increased likelihood of a severe life event in the 12 months preceding illness onset.

Type
Research Article
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 158 , Issue S10: Women and Mental Health , May 1991 , pp. 45 - 49
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1991 

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