ABSTRACT
Postpartum psychosis is much less common than postpartum depression, affecting about 0.1% to 0.2% of all women (10). It is characterized by mood lability, agitation, confusion, thought disorganization, hallucinations, and disturbed sleep. Postpartum psychosis has been associated with an increased risk of suicide, infant neglect, and infanticide (11,12), and is considered a psychiatric emergency. Although relatively rare in the general population, the risk of postpartum psychosis is significantly increased in mothers with a history of previous inpatient psychiatric hospitalization (13,14). There is a very high risk of postpartum psychosis in mothers with bipolar depression, reportedly as high as 46% (3,5,6). Additionally, women who have had an episode of postpartum psychosis are at increased risk for subsequently developing bipolar affective disorder, leading many researchers to speculate that postpartum psychosis is really a subtype of bipolar disorder (15).
