The Psychoses of Menstruation and Childbearing

Childbearing, from the standpoint of psychological medicine, is the most complex event in human experience. Of the dozens of disorders that affect the generative process, or are unleashed as complications, many fall under the heading of 'psychoses' - profound disturbances of thought, perception, cognition and behaviour. These psychoses disrupt personal and family life at a critical time. Reviewing the wide range of psychoses that complicate the reproductive process, Ian Brockington proposes radical changes to the concepts of postpartum and menstrual psychoses, with suggestions for fresh research initiatives. Armed with this comprehensive knowledge and wielding a raft of interventions, many women can be restored to health and their vital roles in the family and community. When the risk factors are known, multidisciplinary preventive strategies can transform the lives of vulnerable women. This is essential reading for psychiatrists, obstetricians and gynaecologists, midwives, general practitioners, neuroscientists and related professions worldwide.

Foreword; Preface; List of abbreviations; Part I. Introduction: 1. Data; 2. History; Part II. The Organic Psychoses of Pregnancy and the Puerperium: 3. Infective delirium; 4. Eclamptic and Donkin psychoses; 5. Wernicke–Korsakow psychosis; 6. Chorea psychosis; 7. Vascular disorders; 8. Other specific neuropsychiatric disorders; 9. Incidental organic psychoses; Part III. The Psychopathology of Parturition: 10. Introduction; 11. Parturient delirium; 12. Unconscious delivery; 13. Acts of desperation; 14. Other parturient psychoses; 15. Delirium and stupor immediately after the birth; Part IV. Non-Organic Psychoses of Childbearing: 16. The literature; 17. Symptoms; 18. Classification; 19. Clinical forms; 20. Episode onset; 21. The bipolar/cycloid group; 22. Management; 23. Risks; Part V. Menstrual Psychosis: 24. The catamenial process; 25. Medicine and menstruation; 26. Definition and classification; 27. Timing within the menstrual cycle; 28. Timing within the life cycle; 29. Links with the psychoses of childbearing; 30. Investigations; 31. Causes; 32. Management; Part VI. The Challenge and the Opportunity: 33. What is known; 34. Impediments to the growth of knowledge; 35. Research opportunities; Appendix: the Anne Roper interview; Index.

Ian Brockington is Professor Emeritus at the University of Birmingham.