Let's Talk About Postnatal Rage
Dec 12, 2025Let’s talk about Postnatal Rage.
In clinical practice, one thing has become increasingly clear:
Postnatal rage is rarely random.
It is one of the clearest early signs that a mother’s physiology is under strain — long before pathology, long before depletion shows up on blood tests, long before she thinks anything is “wrong.”
But that’s not how a mother experiences it.
Most describe rage arriving like a flash: sharp, sudden, overwhelming.
A moment where something inside them surges faster than they can contain.
And afterwards?
The guilt is enormous.
Many mothers tell me the aftermath is worse than the moment itself — the shame, the fear, the replaying, the sense that they have crossed a line they can’t uncross.
Some describe it as:
· a psychological unravelling
· an internal collapse
· “I don’t recognise myself”
· “I feel like I’ve damaged something I can’t repair”
· “I hate who I was in that moment”
These are strong words. And they reflect something far deeper than her character.
They reflect her system being asked to compensate for far too long.
And because no one talks about it, mothers assume:
“It’s just me.”
“I’m the only one reacting like this.”
“I must be the problem.”
But what looks like a personal breakdown is often a physiological overflow —the moment her system can no longer absorb the load she has been carrying quietly for too long.
This doesn’t remove the impact of the moment.
But it radically changes the interpretation of it.
It shifts the frame from “What’s wrong with me?” to “What is happening in my body that needs attention, care, or repair?”
And that shift matters.
Rage Is a Threshold Response
Postnatal rage doesn’t begin in the moment of the outburst.
It begins in:
· fragmented sleep
Rage appears when her system reaches the limit of what it can buffer.
In neurobiology, we describe this as a threshold event —
She is not “choosing” the reaction.
Why This Matters
Postnatal rage doesn’t come from nowhere.
It comes from:
· a depleted buffer
Her system is signalling.
Once rage is recognised as a threshold response rather than a personal failing, the next question becomes: what is happening inside her system at the moment that threshold is crossed?
Clinically, the patterns are clear. The maternal brain, stress circuitry, hormones, and nutrient status all contribute to how quickly she reaches — and recovers from — these episodes.
Understanding this brings compassion.
It also brings clarity.
Let’s go deeper.
1. The Amygdala–Prefrontal Cortex Shift
When the amygdala — the brain’s emotional alarm centre — becomes more reactive, it fires more quickly and more intensely.
At the same time, the prefrontal cortex (responsible for pause, planning, perspective, impulse control) becomes harder to access, especially under chronic stress or sleep loss.
This creates the familiar pattern mothers describe:
· “I snapped instantly.”
· “It came out before I could think.”
· “I didn’t even recognise myself.”
This is not character collapse.
This is amygdala dominance in a system already stretched thin.
2. The Extended Stress Network in Motherhood
During pregnancy and postpartum, the CRH-driven stress network (sometimes called the “extended amygdala”) changes substantially. These changes are adaptive — designed to heighten vigilance and protect the infant.
But under the strain of chronic sleep disruption and emotional demand, this network becomes more easily activated and less regulated.
This means:
· quicker emotional escalation
· reduced reward from positive experiences
· harder to “come down” from heightened states
Her system is not malfunctioning.
It is overworking.
3. Cortisol Dysregulation From Interrupted Sleep
Sleep fragmentation does more than create fatigue.
It reshapes cortisol rhythms and widens the gap between stress activation and stress recovery.
When cortisol becomes unstable, emotional thresholds narrow.
This is why small stressors feel amplified.
It isn’t about the size of the trigger —
4. The Iron + Micronutrient Link
Low ferritin, low B12, low zinc, or low magnesium can make emotional regulation substantially harder.
Iron in particular affects:
· dopamine
When ferritin is low, frustration tolerance narrows dramatically.
Rage is often one of the earliest signs of deficiency.
5. Sensory Overload + Lack of Buffer
Noise, mess, touch, interruptions, conflicting demands —
Rage often emerges after prolonged overstimulation, not because a mother is “overreacting,” but because her system has run out of bandwidth.
This is the physiology behind so many of the moments mothers describe with shame.
6. Why the Aftershock Feels So Intense
When her system rapidly switches from high activation to collapse, the emotional drop is steep.
This produces:
· guilt
But these feelings follow physiology — not identity.
When mothers understand this, the shame softens.
When partners understand this, compassion deepens.
When practitioners understand this, care improves.
Support can begin by recognising her system is speaking.
Our job is to listen.
Stay connected with news and updates on Motherhood.
Join Dr Oscar Serrallach's mailing list:
Unsubscribe anytime.
