When you are the one in the throesof a postpartum mood disorder (PPMD) you may be the last one to be aware of it. &nbsp;Even your family and friends may not recognize what's happening to you.

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="240"]<a title="Wordle: Postpartum Mood Disorder" href="http://www.wordle.net/thumb/wrdl/5820895/Postpartum_Mood_Disorder"><img style="padding: 4px;" title="Postpartum Mood Disorder" src="http://www.wordle.net/thumb/wrdl/5820895/Postpartum_Mood_Disorder" alt="Wordle: Postpartum Mood Disorder" width="240" height="200" /></a> Please Help Spread Awareness about Postpartum Mood Disorder - Share this Word Cloud[/caption]

Part of the problem is that many people don't know what postpartum mood disorder looks like. &nbsp;Before I had postpartum mood disorder I thought that it was called Postpartum Depression (PPD) &nbsp;<em><strong>but</strong>&nbsp;<strong>that's only a small part of it</strong></em>. &nbsp;That's why you won't usually hear me referring to PPD or Postpartum Depression - it's misleading. &nbsp;Postpartum Mood Disorder (PPMD) covers all the mood disorders so I prefer the term and think it needs to be more widely used. &nbsp;Here's why:Before I realized I had PPMD the view I had of postpartum mood disorders was that it was depression that lasted longer than the baby blues and was more severe. &nbsp;I pictured a woman with postpartum depression having trouble connecting with her baby, feeling sad, depressed, and hopeless, taking little interest in her baby and finding no pleasure in things. &nbsp;And while that may be true for a lot of women who suffer from postpartum depression, it doesn't show the entire picture of women suffering from postpartum mood disorders.

Thanks to many awareness campaigns and efforts to bring postpartum issues to light I knew about the baby blues and I knew about postpartum depression. &nbsp;And because of highly publicized tragedy's I had also heard of postpartum psychosis. So while the flow of information has been happening in greater and greater amounts over the years, never once had I heard about <strong>postpartum anxiety</strong> or <strong>postpartum OCD</strong>. That's because they are usually just lumped in with the "symptoms" of postpartum depression. &nbsp;If we are going to talk about awareness we need to make sure to start talking about PPMD which cover the spectrum of disorders.

Here's the best description I've found to explain the different types - Click here:&nbsp;<a title="Postpartum Mood Disorders" href="http://psychotherapy.com/mom.html" target="_blank">Postpartum Mood Disorders</a>.

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Also here are a couple of Ontario sites that are also doing a great job referring to PPMD:

<a title="Perinatal Mood &amp; Anxiety Disorders" href="http://www.helpformom.ca/" target="_blank">Perinatal Mood and Anxiety Disorders</a>

<a title="Peel Postpartum Mood Disorder Program" href="http://www.pmdinpeel.ca/" target="_blank">Peel Postpartum Mood Disorder Program</a>
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