This chapter, like the entire volume, is dedicated to the memory of Channi Kumar. I first met Channi in August 1984 in Oakland, California, at the biennial meeting of the Marcé Society, hosted by James Hamilton. I had already been impressed by Channi’s research but knew him only through his published work. In person, the man did not disappoint. He was elegant and kind, a man who treated everyone with respect. Over the years, my affection and admiration for Channi grew through many stimulating discussions and delightful social occasions. Even our last series of meetings focused on a new, exciting initiative of Channi’s: the ‘Transcultural Study,’ which he envisioned as a way to harmonize the detection, assessment, and treatment of perinatal mood disorders, across western Europe and even the United States, Asia, and Africa. Through experiences like these, Channi made my life richer, personally and professionally; and I greatly miss him as a mentor and a friend, and feel privileged, along with my colleague Lisa Segre, to contribute a small piece to honor this great psychiatrist and humanitarian. Michael W. O’Hara Perinatal depression is a significant mental health problem that afflicts women around the world at a time when they are highly vulnerable—pregnant or managing a new infant. In one form or another, perinatal depression has been recognized for thousands of years; however, only in the past 50 years has there been a sustained focus on the non-psychotic mental illnesses experienced by some during pregnancy and the postpartum period. The literature of the 1960s contains only a few papers with the words postpartum depression, postnatal depression, or perinatal depression. Not until the 1970s did these terms come into common use. Indeed, a search for at least one of these terms on the PsycNET database (from entries catalogued between 1884 and 9 September 2012) revealed the vast majority (2,743 or 75%) of 3,651 papers, books, and book chapters on perinatal depression were published after 2000. These findings show how work in the field of perinatal mental illness has expanded exponentially.
Sensory impairment and mental health
