Pregnant Women with Epilepsy Have More Depression and Anxiety Symptoms

As published in Neurology, symptoms of depression and anxiety in people with epilepsy are more severe during pregnancy and the postpartum period (n=331). This worsening of depression and anxiety was in comparison to people without epilepsy who had depression/anxiety during pregnancy or postpartum (n=102). In addition, among people with comorbid depression/anxiety and epilepsy who could become pregnant (n=102), symptoms were more severe for those who were pregnant or postpartum. 

“The good news is we did not find that (pregnant people) with epilepsy were any more likely to have episodes of major depression than the other 2 groups,” said Kimford J. Meador, MD, Stanford University School of Medicine. “However, these results underscore the importance of regularly screening (those who are) pregnant and have epilepsy for any signs of depression or anxiety and providing effective treatment.”

Study participants who were pregnant had evaluations for depression/anxiety symptoms during each trimester, around the time of delivery, and every 3 months through 9 months postpartum. Those who were not pregnant had visits at comparable time points. Lifetime depression was evaluated with the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV (SCID, and repeated SCID mood modules assessed for major depressive episodes. Symptoms of depression and anxiety were evaluated with the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), Edinburg Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS), and Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI).

Although the study did not find a higher rate of major depression during pregnancy in people with epilepsy, researchers did identify factors associated with major depression. Those who had more than 1 seizure in the past 3 months, were taking more than 1 epilepsy drug, had an unplanned pregnancy, or had a history of mood disorders were more likely to have a major depression episode during pregnancy or postpartum.