What causes depression in pregnancy and the postnatal period?
Knowing about the causes and risk factors for depression can help you to better understand why depression can occur and how best to deal with it. It’s important to know that depression is not a sign of personal weakness, failure, or ‘all in the mind’. Each individual is uniquely different and will respond differently when exposed to either environmental, social or psychological triggers. There is no simple or single explanation for what causes depression during pregnancy and the postnatal period. Current theories about depression recognise that there are a variety of causes or ‘triggers’ which include biological, psychological, social, environmental factors. The precise combination of triggers will vary from person to person, as will their personality and coping style in response to stressors. melancholic and psychotic types of depression are known to be influenced more by genetic and biochemical processes than by psychological, social or environmental causes. The non-melancholic types
