05 Postnatal Affective Disorders: Mapping the research in Pakistan

Abstract

Interest in the domain of postnatal disorders is recent in Pakistan but the focus is mainly on postnatal Blues and Postnatal Depression with the exception of postnatal psychosis for its rare prevalence and diminutive documentation to the clinicians. This systematic critical review abridges the state of indigenous research on prevalence, symptomotology and treatment of Postnatal Affective Disorders (PAD) other than postpartum psychosis in Pakistan. Review of the reports published between 1988 and 2015 showed postnatal Affective Disorders are quite prevalent in Pakistan. The unique psychosocial factors and Symptomotology make PAD different from what is documented in researches from western cultures. Absence of indigenous psychological measures leads to the ignorance towards the assessment of PAD in Pakistan which ultimately leads to their chronicty, unmanageability and persistence in Pakistani mothers.