I got PPD really bad after my daughter was born too. It was one of the worst times of my life, which makes me sad because all I remember from when my daughter was a baby is feeling bad and wanting to die.

I had my first episode of depression (what I remember as an actual episode) when I was 24. It was horrible. It lasted three months and was over the summer. I didn't see a mental health provider until I was 26 or 27, right after I got an OWI and couldn't drink anymore so my anxiety was really bad, so I went in for anxiety and not because I was depressed, and I was put on sertraline. This made me rapid cycle between mania and depression and eventually led to my first hospitalization. I was then put on lamictal and alprazolam and was stable until I became a mom at 29. Then I had my first mania and psychosis at 32 and ended up in the hospital.

So, depression on average three months, mania two weeks. Meds haven't changed duration or intensity.