Fifty years ago, nobody talked about postpartum depression. Nowadays, women are made aware of the warning signs of postpartum depression during pregnancy. But what about the fathers?

 

The young mother gets a lot of attention, and that's quite right. However, nobody cares about the fathers, who soon return to work. In recent years, there has been more and more evidence that men can also go through a period of depression after the birth of their baby. And people are finally starting to talk about it openly.

 

While it is known that one in seven mothers suffers from postpartum depression, so little is known about depression in fathers that it can only be estimated that one in twenty fathers is affected. Psychiatric experts say that male PND (postnatal depression) definitely exists, but is unfortunately too rarely recognised and treated. In contrast to postpartum depression in women, where depression is triggered by chemical changes in the body after childbirth, depression in men is caused by external influences. Men whose wives are depressed are more severely affected.

 

Unfortunately, there are many men who do not admit that they are depressed and therefore cannot be treated. If depression is not treated, it can have devastating consequences in the relationship between father and child. Children of depressed fathers run double the risk of developing behavioural problems, regardless of whether the mother has suffered from depression or not.

The biggest problem is getting men to recognise and admit their condition, or to seek treatment for it.

 

Signs of depression

The birth of your own child should be a particularly happy phase, but if he feels overwhelmed and exhausted instead, this is the first sign. Depressed fathers often lose self-confidence and believe they cannot cope with their workload. They feel constantly drained and miserable and on the verge of tears. They often lie in bed and feel unable to get through the day ahead. Realising that their partner also has to learn to live with the new situation, they feel guilty.

 

Traditionally, it is believed that it is unmanly to be depressed. Men need to be strong, they say. Anyone who suspects that someone is suffering from depression should carefully let them know that they are more of a 'man' when they admit their problems. The sooner the man gets medical help, the faster and better he can be treated.

If he is not taken seriously by the doctor, he should look for someone else who can treat him either with medication or behavioural therapy.

The most important thing is not to give up. The first few weeks after the birth are not easy and seem to drag on forever, but it does get easier.