The Food and Drug Administration on [August 4] approved the first pill for postpartum depression, a milestone considered likely to increase recognition and treatment of a debilitating condition that afflicts about a half-million women in the United States every year.
Clinical trial data show the pill works quickly, beginning to ease depression in as little as three days, significantly faster than general antidepressants, which can take two weeks or longer to have an effect. That — along with the fact that it is taken for just two weeks, not for months — may encourage more patients to accept treatment, maternal mental health experts said.
The most significant aspect of the approval may not be the features of the drug, but that it is explicitly designated for postpartum depression. Several doctors and other experts said that while there were other antidepressants that are effective in treating the condition, the availability of one specifically shown to address it could help reduce the stigma of postpartum depression by underscoring that it has biological underpinnings and is not something women should blame themselves for.
An estimated 10 to 15 percent of women who give birth in the United States experience depression during pregnancy or in the year afterward. The condition can be accompanied by intense anxiety, shame, guilt, impaired sleep, panic attacks and suicidal thoughts or attempts.
