psychotic depression

A year and a half ago at the age of 30, I suffered a psychotic breakdown followed by severe depression.  I haven't experinced psychotic symptoms in about a year now but still suffer with the depression that is somewhat controlled by medication.  My question is, why would a person who has never had mental problems before (except some generalized aniexty since early twenties) have a psychotic break then suffer terrible depression as a residual result?  I've researched, talked with Dr and I still really don't understand and was hoping you could shed some light on my situation.  There is some additional info I would like to share that occured right before my breakdown.  6 months prior, I had a miscarriage.  I handled it  quite well considering my husband and I didn't plan the pregnancy. Then 2 months later my husband suffered a bout of viral meningitis that made him very ill and me being very worried about his health.  Are those type of circumstances enough to push someone over the "edge" or just coincidental events.  What about hormone changes during my brief pregnancy?  Any information you could share with me would be very much appreciated.  Thank you.
Karen

[Roger Gould, M.D.]

First of all, I agree that a psyhotic break is unusal at age 30 without a previous history of significant distress. And of course, there are all kinds and degrees of psychoses, and I am not sure what you experienced.

The kind of stress that preceded your episdoe is not a sufficient cause, and hormonal changes six months prior to that is almost certainly not a factor.

But what is a factor is how you interpreted these important events, what they meant to you, and in particular how these current events fit into deep and unresolved themes in your inner life.  I would look there for my answer, and particularly what delusions or intense anxieties or obsessive thoughts you had during the acute phase of your illness episode. Properly interpreted and understood, these will lead you to the "why" you are looking for.

That said, there is a school of thought that says psychoses is purely a matter of brain chemistry.  I don't agree, but you might want to do some research in that area.

Hope this helps.

[M.G.]

I really beleive it was just a hormone thing. It can happen when your hormones are all screwed up. you probably need to balance them out by birth control or vitamins or other types of things. people dont understand a womens body.