How Depression Affects The Brain Essay

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An estimate 350 million people have depression across the United States. It’s no shock that some of these people are pregnant, or go through pregnancy. A baby forms inside of the mother’s womb and all emotion felt by the mother is being felt by the child. Several people state the the emotions felt by the mother have no effect on the child’s brain. This essay will discuss how the mother’s movements do not only affect the baby, but every emotion which she feels transfers to the child. This, showing the problem with mothers having severe depression or extreme emotions during pregnancy and how it affects the babies brain.
There are multiple reasons that the human brain reacts the way it does. Whether it is a chemical imbalance in the brain or a …show more content…

On top of this, the mother is having many other emotions as well which may affect the body in a multitude of different ways. A main emotion that can be fairly common in pregnant women is depression. The problem with not treating depression is that it can end up leading to a miscarriage, giving birth too early, or giving birth to a child below the normal weight. When a mother has depression, it can affect her child in the long run if not taken care of in the correct way. Mothers should stay on antidepressants if they do have a past of depression because any side effects that happen to appear for the child will not last for more than two …show more content…

As a baby, if the child is used to seeing the mother depressed constantly the child may have more trouble sleeping, be quieter than usual, hit or reach milestones later than other babies, and have trouble interacting with the mother herself. One study showed that there may be more problems during childhood such as having trouble paying attention or being afraid. It’s possible that stress may affect your baby’s brain development or immune system. The babies brain is constantly changing and growing while in the womb so certain mood swings by the mother may cause an unpredicted incident in the child's