Postpartum depression is often treated using medication and counseling.

Medications: These include using antidepressants and hormone therapy. Antidepressants are the most used treatment for postpartum depression. Some of the antidepressants are helpful and safe even during breastfeeding. Thus the doctors prescribe such medications for women who are breast feeding. Post delivery, there is drop in the hormone estrogen. This leads to symptoms of postpartum depression. Using estrogen replacement therapy is helpful in these cases. However, your doctor can be the best person to opt from these two available treatments considering the benefits and risks involved. Treatment for postpartum depression must be continued for sometime even after you start feeling better. This is because; this will stop the postpartum depression symptoms from coming back.  

Counseling: Counseling sought from mental health professionals or psychiatrist can help to cope up from negative feelings. Counseling is a better way of treating postpartum depression. The health expert in this case takes help of family or spouse to solve this problem.

But when the problem is postpartum psychosis, then it is important to hospitalize the patient. In that case, along with counseling and medications, sometimes even electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is recommended. In this a small amount of electrical current is given to the patient’s brain to reduce the symptoms of depression. But this is recommended only when other methods of treatment fail.