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Some young mothers, overwhelmed by their new role, can find themselves in a situation of maternal hypervigilance which leads them to a situation of permanent anxiety to protect their child. Here are the signs to look for to react.
Giving birth to your child is as much a joy as it is an upheaval in your life. But between fatigue and new responsibilities, the difficulties can seem insurmountable for new mothers. Baby blues and postpartum depression aren’t the only threats to a mother’s mental health. She can also suffer from maternal hypervigilance, a lesser known, but nevertheless very present, anxiety.
The impossibility of being reassured in front of your baby
Maternal hypervigilance is not recognized by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), however, health professionals today have a definition of this disorder which affects mothers. Maternal hypervigilance would therefore be a permanent state of alert aimed at guaranteeing the good health and safety of her child. Faced with the permanent fear that a tragedy will happen to her child, the mother then develops an increased, even obsessive, vigilance which exhausts her, keeps her awake and gradually turns into anxiety. The role of mother becomes that of an impossible safeguard.
What are the symptoms of maternal hypervigilance?
Does the subject seem familiar to you? Psychologists are now also able to define the symptoms of this particular form of anxiety.
- A constant fear that something will happen to the baby;
- Physical agitation;
- Hyperesthesia, that is to say hypersensitivity of the senses. Each stimulus amplifies (light, sound, etc.). The hypervigilant mother becomes attentive to the slightest noise, to the slightest reaction of the child;
- Sleep disorders;
- Appetite disorders;
- A lack of concentration;
- Constant irritability.
Are some mothers more prone than others?
Anxiety disorder can affect all mothers. However, those who have experienced another anxiety-provoking difficulty in their life, such as childhood trauma, or fragile mental health, are more vulnerable.
A complicated family situation, such as an ongoing separation, can also cause this behavior.
Finally, women who have experienced a medical emergency involving their pregnancy or involving the life of their baby are also likely to become hypervigilant, for fear of reliving the trauma.
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Undetected maternal hypervigilance can unfortunately give way to postpartum depression. It is then a matter of reacting and not letting anxiety take hold. According to experts, it is appropriate to consult a health professional, such as the maternity psychologist, or your attending physician, when signs of hypervigilance appear for more than two weeks.