The motive that compelled Miriam Carey to drive through police forces as she attempted to get to the U.S. Capitol building yesterday may never been known, as Carey was killed by fire from the police officers responding to the intrusion. However, in the day since her death, family members have filled in a number of the holes, saying they think she was suffering from postpartum depression, but also expressing shock and disbelief at Carey’s activities.

Carey’s one-year-old daughter was through the police pursuit in the rear of the car, she escaped the ordeal unharmed and has really been placed in police custody though.

A new mother can begin to experience postpartum depression sometime in the months following the arrival of a young child, and the disorder can survive for over a year, said Ariela Frieder, MD, a psychiatrist at Montefiore Medical Center in New York.

Postpartum depression is an extreme form of depression that occurs following a mom gives birth, and causes the girl to get difficulty feeling moved, to have trouble appreciating her kid, and to be unable to focus. Feelings of guilt, worthlessness, despairing, and problems sleeping or eating are all portions of the depressive disorder.

“When you have a baby, it is really nerve-racking, so you can be cranky or tired,” Dr. Frieder said. Postpartum depression goes beyond that standard crankiness, and girls who have it feel there aren’t any solutions to their issues and see everything negatively.

“One of the warning signals for me is if a lady is not sleeping, even when a baby sleeps,” Frieder said. If she can’t enjoy the child, and has “no energy to do anything,” it could be a signal, she included.

Typically, women with a history of depression are at higher risk, and experiencing depression or other problems, for example excessive pressure or a tough pregnancy, during pregnancy could raise the risk.

Frieder stated that postpartum depression does not often lead directly to violence, but said “a woman can be quite irritable and angry when she’s depressed, and that can compel her to do something violent.” This occasionally shows itself in girls becoming violent using their babies, but Frieder warned that most violence is linked to psychosis, which happens when someone considers things are occurring that will not be real, and “that compels them to become violent.”

“We could state a very severe form of postpartum depression is postpartum psychosis,” she said.

Friends and family members who imagine postpartum depression via the presence of a few of the symptoms should support the woman and encourage her to seek help from somebody who is able to assess her psychological state and offer proper treatment.

It’s wrong to presume this is “in her head also it can go away,” Frieder said, noting that many people still don’t understand depression is in fact a disease.

Psychotherapy or drug are accessible treatment options, to help relieve symptoms. It is also ideal for family members to pitch in more with childcare so the stress on a lady is diminished. In extraordinary cases, electrical convulsive shock therapy is a treatment choice. ??

“Doctors need to screen and treat it more efficiently,” said Frieder. ‘We must be more able to speak about it — it needs to not be stigmatized anymore.”

She noted that it’s difficult to diagnose postpartum depression postmortem though Frieder said she could not comment on the specific case of Carey.