POSTPARTUM MENTAL-DISORDERS

As many as 85 percent of women have some type of postpartum mental illness. Puerperal mental difficulties may have an adverse effect on the relationship between a mother and her newborn. The three categories of postpartum mental illness are the ''blues,'' depression and psychosis. Postpartum blues is a mild, transient disorder that may be a variant of normal maternal behavior following delivery. Depression and psychosis in the postpartum period cannot clearly be distinguished from the same disorders occurring at other times of life, but they respond to traditional modes of therapy.