No.
This is, understandably, the first
question out of everyone's mouth, since a flood of negative feelings is a
hallmark of D-MER. But D-MER being a physiological condition is one piece of the puzzle that we are most certain
about.
Why is it important to know whether D-MER is psychological or hormonal? Because solutions will not be found if we don't look in the right direction. Some D-MER mothers have spent a year or more pursuing ineffective treatment and counseling.
It's also important to remember that
not all emotional issues are psychological, something we are especially likely
to forget when women are involved. The
very word "hysterical" comes from the Greek word for "womb". If a group of men began reporting that every
time they yawned, just before the yawn and continuing for up to a minute
afterwards, they had feelings of euphoria, would researchers look first at
their emotional backgrounds, or at the physiology of the yawn?
Are we saying that a psychological
response to breastfeeding isn't possible? No, of course not. But D-MER isn't one of them.
Below you will see why a psychological
origin for D-MER is extremely unlikely.
- There are sure to be psycho-dynamic causes of sadness while nursing.
- I would look into the whole issues the person has with motherhood in general. Did she plan this child? Is she enjoying him?
- Hormones only activate or accentuate feelings that are already
somewhat present.
- A severe reaction to the hormones of breastfeeding uncovers underlying psychological problems, but the feelings are not caused by the hormones themselves.
- She is experiencing it because of a past traumatic experience, and the act of breastfeeding or milk ejection reflex triggers the memory.
- The act of nourishing her child is sure to be reminiscent of past experiences and so full of symbolic meaning for the woman.
- The birth must have been difficult and the mother is still processing something.
- It's because of her history with anxiety/depression/eating disorder/panic attacks or other.
- Repressed memories. The mother was sexually abused as a child and doesn't remember it.
- The mother's own birth or babyhood was difficult and she is still processing something.
- It is because of the sexual violence she experienced as an adult and it has caused breastfeeding to bring back the traumatic emotions from that event.
- The mother is mourning something. For example: hoping for a natural birth and had a c-section... a miscarriage before this pregnancy... going back to work soon... misses her "old self" a little...
Now take a minute
and imagine you are a mother who is experiencing these emotions while
breastfeeding your baby. When everyone and everyone has told you that you
should feel warm and maternal while you nurse, you find yourself feeling dark
and hostile. Now imagine that you get up your courage to share your
feelings to one of the safest people you can think of: a breastfeeding
helper....a best friend...your mother...a mother's group... your doctor...and
after you bear your soul to one or more of these "safe" people, you
hear only the above comments in return.
Would you ever dare to bring up these "wrong" and horrid feelings
again?
This is why D-MER is breastfeeding's best kept secret.
- The D-MER mothers themselves don't think
it is. Many have avoided mentioning
the problem because they know they'll be offered depression-based
solutions and they don't feel themselves to be depressed except for those
brief periods at milk release.
- Treatments usually used for postpartum depression, other forms of
depression, or anxiety or psychosis appear to be ineffective. Only those chemicals that raise dopamine
seem to help.
- As soon as we experimented with a hormonal approach, we began to be
able to affect D-MER.
- Chemicals that lower dopamine seem to make D-MER worse. It seems to be as simple as that. Women who have had emotional responses
to thyroid imbalance may be resonate with this point. Their atypical emotions before treatment
had a hormonal, not a psychological, cause.
- This disorder turns on a dime. It responds to dopamine-altering
situations, whether the mother knows dopamine is involved or not. Smoking,
stress, caffeine, "post-orgasm glow", various medications...all affect
D-MER either positively or negatively, depending whether they raise or
lower dopamine levels.
- D-MER follows the same pattern as any other reflex. You can tell
yourself your knee isn't going to jerk when you hit it... but it does,
just as much the hundredth time as it does the first, and it stops as soon
as the stimulus stops. The D-MER reflex involves e-motion rather than
motion because a hormone shift is triggered instead of having a muscle
nerve triggered.
- The decongestant pseudoephedrine improves D-MER temporarily (it is
not a sustainable solution because of its stimulant properties. It seems unlikely to damage milk supply
in a D-MER mother, but we don't yet know for sure.) The fact that D-MER
responds so decisively to a decongestant makes the likelihood of a
psychological connection hard to explain.
- D-MER varies from one baby to the next, instead of being experienced with each baby a mother has. If childhood trauma or a repressed experience were the origin of D-MER, we would expect a more consistent response.
- D-MER is independent of birth experience. D-MER mothers may have had beautiful
home births or highly complicated hospital births. They may be first-time mothers or
last-time mothers.
- D-MER self-corrects eventually in almost every case. It is
not likely that a psychological reaction to breastfeeding would gradually
disappear altogether and perhaps resume, or not resume, with the next baby.
- The feelings a mother has with D-MER do not require breast/nipple
contact and often do not begin until a few weeks after birth. These facts don't fit well with
breastfeeding being an emotional trigger.
- The "only and always" nature of the D-MER, and the close
and reliable timing with regard to the mothers' MER, all make it appear to
be a reflexive, hormonal issue.