# Will depressed & schizophrenic women be cured while pregnant due to brain chemistry changes? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 22, 2009, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-depressed-schizophrenic-women-be-cured-while-pregnant-due-to-brain-chemistry-changes/514701 "2009-10-22T03:11:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2009, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-depressed-schizophrenic-women-be-cured-while-pregnant-due-to-brain-chemistry-changes/514701/1 "2009-10-22T03:11:00Z")
Just curious. Does depression and schizophrenia go away or lessen considerably when a women is pregnant due to the brain chemistry changes that happen? ---
**Author:** ![Tenebras](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/977dab/32.png) [@Tenebras](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tenebras)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2009, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-depressed-schizophrenic-women-be-cured-while-pregnant-due-to-brain-chemistry-changes/514701/2 "2009-10-22T03:25:53Z")
I believe not. Here’s a snippet of an interview which suggests that the crazy and pregnant remain just as crazy as they did before they got pregnant: > [@](#): > > During pregnancy, key risks include delayed recognition of pregnancy, less prenatal care, failure to recognize labor, and a greater incidence of obstetric complications. A particularly high-risk symptom is psychotic denial of pregnancy, a condition in which the woman denies that she is pregnant despite clear indications, and thereby refuses prenatal care, misinterprets signs of labor, risks precipitous and unassisted delivery, and fails to bond with the baby. [Source](http://www.schizophrenia.com/sznews/archives/005192.html). Also, I talked to a psychologist I know after the whole “woman who ate her baby” thing, and she suggested that the crazy tends to get worse. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Kobayashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4af34b/32.png) [@Mr.Kobayashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Kobayashi)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2009, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-depressed-schizophrenic-women-be-cured-while-pregnant-due-to-brain-chemistry-changes/514701/3 "2009-10-22T03:26:56Z")
> [@astro](#): > > Just curious. Does depression and schizophrenia go away or lessen considerably when a women is pregnant due to the brain chemistry changes that happen? It could get worse [due to ceasing medication.](http://www.rethink.org/living_with_mental_illness/everyday_living/parenting_children/pregnancy_mental_i.html) Postpartum depression is also a risk. ---
**Author:** ![drachillix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/48db29/32.png) [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2009, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-depressed-schizophrenic-women-be-cured-while-pregnant-due-to-brain-chemistry-changes/514701/4 "2009-10-22T03:33:13Z")
> [@Mr.Kobayashi](#): > > It could get worse [due to ceasing medication.](http://www.rethink.org/living_with_mental_illness/everyday_living/parenting_children/pregnancy_mental_i.html) Postpartum depression is also a risk. If the stories **Cyn** tells are any indication, that would be a big affirmative. Crazy people get pregnant all the time…still crazy later. Paging **Cyn**!!! ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2009, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-depressed-schizophrenic-women-be-cured-while-pregnant-due-to-brain-chemistry-changes/514701/5 "2009-10-22T23:59:59Z")
> [@Mr.Kobayashi](#): > > It could get worse [due to ceasing medication.](http://www.rethink.org/living_with_mental_illness/everyday_living/parenting_children/pregnancy_mental_i.html) Postpartum depression is also a risk. Isn’t there something called post-partum psychosis, which was the case with Andrea Yates? ---
**Author:** ![Kolga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e56c9b/32.png) [@Kolga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolga)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2009, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-depressed-schizophrenic-women-be-cured-while-pregnant-due-to-brain-chemistry-changes/514701/6 "2009-10-23T00:27:44Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > Isn’t there something called post-partum psychosis, which was the case with Andrea Yates? Yes, there is a specifier in many of the Axis I disorders of “with post-partum onset.” It’s not just limited to psychotic disorders. And it’s my understanding that Andrea Yates did have a well-established history of post-partum psychotic symptoms with all of her pregnancies, although I could be misremembering. ---
**Author:** ![RaftPeople](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@RaftPeople](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RaftPeople)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2009, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-depressed-schizophrenic-women-be-cured-while-pregnant-due-to-brain-chemistry-changes/514701/7 "2009-10-23T00:46:13Z")
Here’s some recent research that seems to show schizophrenia is due to developmental problems in the brain resulting in wrong number and wrong types of neurons in some areas. (which seems like brain chemistry changes would be less likely to fix the problem). [http://machineslikeus.com/news/link-between-genetic-defect-and-brain-changes-schizophrenia-demonstrated](http://machineslikeus.com/news/link-between-genetic-defect-and-brain-changes-schizophrenia-demonstrated) ---
**Author:** ![Ragiel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6de8d8/32.png) [@Ragiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ragiel)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2009, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-depressed-schizophrenic-women-be-cured-while-pregnant-due-to-brain-chemistry-changes/514701/8 "2009-10-23T01:05:43Z")
In my experience (20+ years in general psychiatry), no. I have heard anecdotal reports of women who did get better, but I’ve never treated, or consulted on, one of them. Looks like that’s pretty much others’ experience also: [http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/display/article/10168/54021?verify=0](http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/display/article/10168/54021?verify=0) Ragiel, M.D., Shrink. ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2009, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-depressed-schizophrenic-women-be-cured-while-pregnant-due-to-brain-chemistry-changes/514701/9 "2009-10-23T06:14:22Z")
Changes in brain chemistry don’t automatically mean changes for the better. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2009, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-depressed-schizophrenic-women-be-cured-while-pregnant-due-to-brain-chemistry-changes/514701/10 "2009-10-23T07:14:16Z")
I was depressed and untreated before I got pregnant. While pregnant, I got worse, not better, and of course I stayed untreated. I didn’t get treated until my daughter was a little over a year old, and as long as I take my meds, life is mostly bearable, both for me and for those around me. ---
**Author:** ![tesseract](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bb73d2/32.png) [@tesseract](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tesseract)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2009, 8:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-depressed-schizophrenic-women-be-cured-while-pregnant-due-to-brain-chemistry-changes/514701/11 "2009-10-23T08:58:41Z")
Based on one anecodotal account, I think it must be possible, and I’ve wished someone would study it. I’ve always wondered if it is a contributing factor in some situations where a (usually poor, uneducated) woman has kid after kid when she is not in a stable situation and has no money, etc. My mom’s somewhat severe depression (no schizophrenia) went magically away when she was pregnant with my oldest brother. I think that is one of the reasons that she talks about pregnancy with reverential awe…I mean, with a little more awe or fervor or reverance than most people do. Anyway, she later got medication and all was well, but she recalls that she went from being in a dark hole to being blissfully happy all day every day while pregnant…and falling into the hole again after giving birth. ---
**Author:** ![Serenata67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/serenata67/32/10646_2.png) [@Serenata67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Serenata67)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2009, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-depressed-schizophrenic-women-be-cured-while-pregnant-due-to-brain-chemistry-changes/514701/12 "2009-10-23T13:06:07Z")
> [@Tenebras](#): > > I believe not. Here’s a snippet of an interview which suggests that the crazy and pregnant remain just as crazy as they did before they got pregnant: > [Source](http://www.schizophrenia.com/sznews/archives/005192.html). > > Also, I talked to a psychologist I know after the whole “woman who ate her baby” thing, and she suggested that the crazy tends to get worse. Woman who ate her baby? Did that really happen? Can you link something to that? ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2009, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-depressed-schizophrenic-women-be-cured-while-pregnant-due-to-brain-chemistry-changes/514701/13 "2009-10-23T13:25:59Z")
> [@Serenata67](#): > > Woman who ate her baby? Did that really happen? Can you link something to that? Well, she [ate part of the brain and a few toes](http://www.fox40.com/news/headlines/ktxl-news-babyeaten0730,0,3673671.story). ---
**Author:** ![Serenata67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/serenata67/32/10646_2.png) [@Serenata67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Serenata67)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2009, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-depressed-schizophrenic-women-be-cured-while-pregnant-due-to-brain-chemistry-changes/514701/14 "2009-10-24T00:58:33Z")
> [@Ferret\_Herder](#): > > Well, she [ate part of the brain and a few toes](http://www.fox40.com/news/headlines/ktxl-news-babyeaten0730,0,3673671.story). Oh my God. That’s awful. ---
**Author:** ![irishgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@irishgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/irishgirl)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2009, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-depressed-schizophrenic-women-be-cured-while-pregnant-due-to-brain-chemistry-changes/514701/15 "2009-10-25T14:33:47Z")
Depression can certainly improve during pregnancy- pregnancy hormones tend to exert a “feel good” effect that can help…but the post-partum hormone crash would negate this effect, and it certainly isn’t true for everyone. Pregnancy itself can cause depression in some people, and is a well known issue for women with unwanted pregnancies, or who suffer the more unpleasant pregnancy symptoms (i.e. it’s hard to feel happy when you’re on a drip and haven’t been able to keep down solids for several weeks). Schizohrenia is a spectrum of illness. There are some people who have a single episode of psychosis and never become unwell again. There are others who have multiple episodes of psychosis, but stay well inbetween. There are still others who have multiple episodes of psychosis and who gradually deteriorate in social skills and function in between, never truly being “well” again. Finally there are some people who sadly have some level of psychosis always present, and whose day to day function is usually impaired by that. Now, it would be unlikely that someone from the last category would be magically “cured” of their schizophrenia by pregnancy, but it might be possibly that a person from the first category could appear to have been. Does that make sense? When you talk of schizophrenia you also need to understand the difference between “positive” symptoms (delusions and hallucinations- the “Hollywood” symptoms of schizophrenia) and “negative” symptoms (self-isolation, lack of motivation, decreased ability to interact successfully with others, poor personal care). It may be possible that someone with predominantly negative symptoms of schizophrenia may be able to respond posivitely to the pregnancy enough to motivate themselves and thus engage better with others, but it is unlikley that this would be a factor in someone who was mainly dealing with positive symptoms. So…possible yes, likely or common, no.