Does Emilia Have Postpartum Depression?

This page makes an attempt to prove that Emilia is suffering from a prolonged case of postpartum depression. Here you will find a list of symptoms of postpartum depression; below the list, examples from the Babadook are provided to match Emilia's symptoms with this profile. 

The list of symptoms has been alphabetized for ease of reference.Examples from the film are similarly alphabetized.  

Symptoms of Postpartum Depression
The Mayo Clinic states that Postpartum depression symptoms may include:

• Depressed mood or severe mood swings
• Difficulty bonding with your baby
• Diminished ability to think clearly, concentrate or make decisions
• Excessive crying
• Fear that you're not a good mother
• Feelings of worthlessness, shame, guilt or inadequacy
• Inability to sleep (insomnia) or sleeping too much
• Intense irritability and anger
• Loss of appetite or eating much more than usual
• Overwhelming fatigue or loss of energy
• Recurrent thoughts of death or suicide
• Reduced interest and pleasure in activities you used to enjoy
• Severe anxiety and panic attacks
• Thoughts of harming yourself or your baby
• Withdrawing from family and friends

Untreated, postpartum depression may last for many months or longer ("Diseases and Conditions...").

Connections with Emilia's Behavior:
 Inability to sleep (insomnia) or sleeping too much:
 






Above, we see an example of Emilia watching TV late at night, just one of the many times her sleep is irregular. Throughout the film, she is seen to stay awake late into the night, have difficulty rising in the morning, and fall into a sort of sleepless trance during which the whole night passes in an instant, but Emilia gets no rest. 


Thoughts of harming yourself or your baby:

 In one of the most disturbing and frightening trends in this film, Emilia is increasingly plagued with thoughts of harming or killing her own son. She does kill their dog, and tries to kill her son, Sam. She is thwarted by Sam's weapons, and booby-traps, and especially his love for his mother.  

Withdrawing from family and friends:

 In this exchange, we can see Emilia withdrawing from her family. She asks her sister, Claire, why she never calls or comes over anymore:

Claire: Because I can't stand being around your son.
Emilia: I can't believe you just said that.
Claire: You can't stand being around him yourself.

Emilia's failure to respond to her sister's harsh comment suggests that, in her heart, there is some grain of truth in what Claire has said. Angry and ashamed, Emilia chooses to remove herself from the relationship with her sister rather than try to resolve the conflict.  

Works Cited

“Diseases and Conditions: Postpartum Depression.” Mayoclinic.org. Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research. 2017. Web. 19 March 2017. http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/postpartum-depression/basics/definition/con-20029130.