Closing Arguments

During closing arguments, our debaters summarize their positions from each previous round to finalize their thoughts on this interesting topic.

Transcript:

Dr Jennifer Payne: Hi everyone. Thank you for joining us for the closing arguments of this Great Debates in Psychiatry Series, where we would like to summarize some of our discussions so far. We are hoping to leave the viewers with some thought-provoking ideas and perhaps encourage some meaningful discussion in your practices.

Dr Melanie Barrett: As Dr Payne mentioned earlier, postpartum depression is the most common complication of childbirth. It can have devastating consequences if left untreated or undertreated. We must all work together to identify those at risk and those experiencing postpartum depression to mitigate risk factors and quickly and fully treat PPD.

Dr Jennifer Payne: From a research perspective, I view postpartum depression as a more homogeneous subtype of major depression. I'm using postpartum depression as a type of depression that I can predict when it will occur, and therefore, I can start to measure biological factors associated with postpartum depression. Because of this research, I've been able to identify biomarkers of postpartum depression, and I'm hoping that we're going to be able to move the field of psychiatry from reactive to preventative for postpartum depression. Women who have major depression are at elevated risk for postpartum depression, and women who experience postpartum depression are at elevated risk for major depression outside of the perinatal time period. I hope we can move to preventing all types of postpartum depression in the future.

Well, there we have it. This has been such a great conversation. I want to thank Dr Barrett for this interesting debate and thank you all for joining us. Be sure to tell us who you think won this debate by answering the poll questions you see on your screen. We'll see you next time. Thanks for coming.