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| Baby blues can reduce mother mental health. (Photo: Dita PR) |
Baby blues is a familiar term for millennial moms and Gen-Z. Unfortunately, in some news, mothers with baby blues issues often harm themselves and their children. From a psychological perspective, baby blues is called postpartum blues. It is not a mental disorder, but a psychological problem. According to a psychologist and lecturer in Psychology at the University of Muhammadiyah Malang (UMM), Atika Permata Sari, S.Psi, M.Psi.
"In psychology, problems and disorders are different things. A problem is not yet a diagnosis of a particular disorder. But if postpartum blues is ignored without any treatment, it will become postpartum depression, which can be classified as a psychological disorder," she added.
From a medical perspective, the factors that can trigger mothers to suffer from baby blues can come from several things, such as drastic hormonal changes after childbirth, a history of conditions before childbirth, and family problems. "Especially for mothers who have a history of a psychological disorder such as depression, they will be at a higher risk of experiencing baby blues," she added.
The most visible symptom when a mother suffers from baby blues is related to emotions. These include emotional lability, anxiety, irritability, and even some symptoms of mild depression. In addition, there are also symptoms of behavioral changes, such as changes in sleep and eating habits. It could be eating less or more than usual and sleeping less or more than usual.
Based on several previous studies, Atika said that mothers who suffer from baby blues will have low mental health and poor sleep quality. Moreover, this will also have an impact on how far the mother is able to run their parenting role for their child. "Having companionship from both family and professionals is important. They can provide support to the mother after childbirth. It has been proven to reduce the possibility of baby blues leading to postpartum depression. Also, it improves the mental health of the mother," she said.
There are several supports that can be applied. Starting from instrumental support such as taking turns looking after the baby, emotional support such as listening to the wife's confessions, or material support such as providing additional allowance for the wife, "Baby blues is natural to experience and will usually disappear on its own after two weeks after the first appearance of symptoms. It can also improve, of course, with the support of people around," she explained.
In the end, Atika hopes that every mother who suffers from baby blues will have enough support during the parenting process. She also advised mothers not to hesitate to ask for help from people around them. "Never feel guilty when asking for help and receiving help from others while raising children. As the saying goes, 'it takes a village to raise a child'," she concluded. (dit/wil/put)
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