PUERPERAL PSYCHOSIS, INFANTICIDE AND NEONATICIDE: HOW TO DIFFERENTIATE AND RECOGNIZE SUCH THREATS?

Abstract

Introduction: Puerperal psychosis is a concept not included in recent editions of the DSM. They do not give a formal classification. Only the specifier “postpartum” can be added to other diagnoses. Filicide, in general, is an unusual situation, but when it occurs, it has an impact on society. Commonly, it is a situation related to postpartum mental disorders, however, this association does not always exist, being related to several factors. By definition, infanticide is the intentional death of children in the first months of life by the parents, whereas neonaticide is the murder of a newborn within the first 24 hours of life by its mother. The objective of this review is to understand the most emblematic risks during the puerperium in order to evaluate ways to avoid tragic outcomes. Methodology: This is a literature review study, with a qualitative approach. A search was carried out in the PubMed and SciELO databases with the descriptors “neonatal psychosis”, “puerperal phychosis”, the selected articles were published between 2013 and 2020. After inclusion and exclusion criteria, nine articles were selected, all in English . Results: Studies have been carried out to better understand the causes of infanticide, these are closely related to a variety of biological, psychological, economic and social factors. So researchers have used animal studies to identify potential biological causes of infanticide. Bullies often suffer from psychological disorders such as schizophrenia, depressive disorder, personality disorders, bipolar disorder. However, it was seen that social and economic factors were more linked to filicide than mental illness. Regarding psychiatric illnesses, it was seen that severe Major Depression was more correlated with infanticide than Psychotic Disorder without depressive symptoms. In relation to neonaticide, Personality Disorders were more linked. The review highlighted that income inequality plays an important role in the public health of children, in the same way that Infant Mortality is positively related to poverty, the infanticide rate is linked to desperate economic situations. Conclusion: It is difficult to obtain accurate figures on the incidence of child homicide, since many cases will never be discovered, which makes studies difficult. Furthermore, those most likely to commit such crimes tend to be in conditions where health care is poor or avoids the system. Thus, it is necessary that health professionals are trained to recognize and guide families at risk.