Women's Experiences of Postpartum Depression and Barriers to Accessing Psychological Services

Postpartum depression (PPD) is one of the most common psychiatric disorders during the perinatal period, yet it faces a profound treatment gap in Iran, particularly in mid-sized cities with traditional social structures. This qualitative study aimed to describe and explain the lived experience of women with PPD and the multidimensional barriers to seeking psychological services in the city of Ghaemshahr. The research employed Van Manen’s hermeneutic phenomenological approach. The participants were ۲۲ women, aged ۱۸ to ۴۵, residing in Ghaemshahr, who had given birth in the past two years and exhibited symptoms of PPD. Sampling proceeded through maximum variation purposeful sampling followed by theoretical sampling until theoretical saturation was reached. Data were collected via in-depth, semi-structured interviews and analyzed using Van Manen’s six-step method. The study's rigor was ensured through Lincoln and Guba’s criteria (credibility, transferability, dependability, and confirmability). Four main themes were extracted: (۱) Shattered Motherhood and Lost Identity, (۲) Depression as Weakness, Ingratitude, or Possession (Jinn-Affliction), (۳) Familial-Cultural Prison and Invisible Control (with a focus on the Mother-in-Law’s role), and (۴) Absent Health System and Inaccessible Psychological Services. These themes delineated a cycle of silent suffering, shame, concealment, isolation, and multilayered prevention from help-seeking. Postpartum depression in Ghaemshahr is a profoundly sociocultural phenomenon, trapped at the intersection of severe stigma, traditional motherhood norms, extended family control, and structural gaps in the local health system. Effective interventions must be designed simultaneously at the individual, familial (especially the mother-in-law), community, and structural levels, with high cultural sensitivity.

کلیدواژه ها:

Lived Experience ، Barriers to Help-Seeking ، Mental Illness Stigma ، Hermeneutic Phenomenology ، Maternal Mental Health