In light of the Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, there has been much discussion about the relationship between access to abortion and the mental health of those who seek abortions. While those opposed to abortion argue that people who have them are at an increased risk to develop mental illnesses, research reveals otherwise.
Postpartum depression, a risk after pregnancy, is unjustly underdiagnosed and under-researched and has serious consequences on the life of a person post-pregnancy. As bans on abortion are enforced across America, it is necessary for both federal and local governments to invest more in research on postpartum depression – and in making this information widely available.
“Rigorous, long-term psychological research demonstrates clearly that people who are denied abortions are more likely to experience higher levels of anxiety, lower life satisfaction and lower self-esteem compared with those who are able to obtain abortions,” the president of the American Psychological Association, Frank C. Worrell, said in a recent statement.
The relationship between pregnancy and mental health risks extends beyond those denied abortions. All pregnant people are at risk of getting postpartum depression, a form of depression and serious mental illness that happens after childbirth.
One in seven women experience postpartum depression. However, this number is likely underestimated due to the large number of women who are undiagnosed. While postpartum depression wasn’t officially recognized by the psychiatric community until 1994, the ancient Greek physician Hippocrates wrote about its symptoms as far back as 460 B.C. The significant delay in recognizing postpartum depression highlights the danger that comes from what philosopher Miranda Fricker called “hermeneutical injustice,” a bias and prejudice against marginalized people resulting from a lack of resources to describe and understand their experiences.
Postpartum depression affects many, but it’s especially prevalent among people of color. An estimated 38 percent of mothers of color experience postpartum depression, more than double the approximately 14 percent of all mothers who experience it. It gets worse: In addition to people of color facing higher rates of postpartum depression, they are also more likely to be undiagnosed.
This under-diagnosis is partly due to a lack of awareness that certain mental health symptoms stem from pregnancy, caused by lack of adequate resources. It’s also due to stereotypes about minorities that cause health professionals to dismiss their symptoms.
In addition, the specific experiences of people of color experiencing postpartum depression are still vastly under researched, making it harder for doctors to diagnose minorities with it. Going undiagnosed with postpartum depression has detrimental effects on health. Suicide is the leading cause of maternal mortality among those with postpartum depression.
Fricker, the philosopher, proposes two ways of fighting this: improving access to all available resources and investing in the creation of new resources. To properly address postpartum depression, we must fund more research on this mental illness with a focus on the experiences of people of color, and provide more education and training to medical professionals on diagnosing and treating postpartum depression.
After the overturning of Roe v. Wade, it is more important than ever to address mental illnesses related to pregnancy.
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