We are only beginning to understand how critical it is for new mothers to be quickly and correctly diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. It is crucial to their health and even more so, to that of their infants. Babies are amazingly responsive creatures. A typical newborn responds to its mother/caretaker's touch, tone and facial expressions innately and instantaneously. Mothers who have become depressed or anxious due to trauma are at high risk for creating a complicated, ineffective bond with their child that can affect them throughout their lifetime.

Yet, PTSD continues to be under-diagnosed and oftentimes, misdiagnosed in our society. Women who have led quiet lives of suffering will routinely underestimate the toll it takes on them. Professionals continue to fail to ask key intake questions such as; "When was the last time you felt victimized?" or "Has there been trauma in your recent or even not so recent past?" I meet women daily who consider the lifetime of domestic violence that they grew up in or married into as a "typical, if not normal part of a woman's life." Needless to say, their PTSD symptoms have gone unnoticed by both themselves and the professionals they have come across.

In a home where trauma lives, a newborn child can enter a bleak picture oftentimes exhibiting facial expressions that are misread and emotions that are mirrored back inappropriately. On top of that, it is not unusual for a new mother's anxiety to increase over the crying needs of her newborn. The outcome can be as dramatic as the development of Disorganized Attachment in Infancy with typical symptoms ranging from over-attachment to neglect. While it is natural to try to ease a crying child out of its misery, mothers of trauma will often attempt to do so by teasing or coaxing, ineffectively trying to cheer the child up. Research has consistently shown that nurturing and soothing, while mirroring concern for their discomfort is the more natural response.

Women with PTSD can also feel aloof or detached from their surroundings and others; especially in the face of chronic, stressful demands. As the mother of three, I know firsthand that infants can be amazingly demanding. It often took all of my patience and strength to meet their needs as best I could, even with a lot of healthy support and encouragement. The combination of depleted, depressed mothers and demanding infants can be hurtful to both, but most especially detrimental to the healthy development of the child.

Healthcare professionals need to routinely ask questions that specifically look for evidence of trauma. Organizations should provide training for every level of staff with information about the typical signs and symptoms of PTSD. High risk families can be cost effectively coached in proper infant/parent interactions that can prevent the vicious and debilitating cycle of attachment disorders.  

"By ignoring traumatic effect & memory, we do not make it disappear; we just create a psychic abscess that infects the rest of the person and subsequent generations."

                                                                        Dr. S. Bloom

Barbara Rhode

LMFT, and President of Transitions and You

barbara@transitionsandyou.com

www.transitionsandyou.com