Postpartum
Depression: Some Dads May Be at Risk
Almost as many men as women suffer from postpartum depression,
says a study in the journal Pediatrics.
Postpartum depression has gotten a softer face in recent
years as celebrity mothers, such as Brooke Shields, who have experienced its
devastating symptoms, have begun to share their personal stories.
The National Institutes of Health
(NIH) says postpartum depression can make a person feel restless,
anxious, fatigued, and worthless.
With
a traditional focus on women and postpartum depression, the NIH states
that many women have mood swings right after childbirth, and can be happy
one
minute and sad the
next. Even when their baby is asleep, they may have difficulty sleeping and
eating, and feel a little depressed.
If these
symptoms begin a few days after delivery and go away after seven to 10 days
without treatment, they are in
all likelihood the “baby
blues,” a short-lasting condition that 50 percent to 80 percent of women
feel. This usually does not require medical intervention.
A sufferer may experience drastic changes in mood and appetite,
excessive preoccupation with a child's health, or intrusive thoughts of harming
the baby, according to Mental Health America.
Clinically
diagnosed postpartum depression, however, is another story, states the NIH.
The new study shows a little discussed, and still hidden,
problem of new fathers who have suffered from postpartum depression in silence
all these years.
Researchers examined data from more than 5,000 two-parent
families. In all, about 14 percent of mothers and 10 percent of fathers showed
signs of moderate or severe postpartum depression.
"The long-standing belief of many people, including physicians,
has been that postpartum depression is due to hormone changes in women that
take place after childbirth," says study leader James F. Paulson, Ph.D., at
Eastern Virginia Medical School.
"Obviously, fathers wouldn't be susceptible to changes of
this nature and, probably because of this, haven't been a focus of study," says
Dr. Paulson.
Janice
Goodman, Ph.D., at the MGH
Institute of Health Professions in Boston agrees that hormonal changes are
not the only
plausible explanation.
"In both men and women, the huge life changes that go along
with having a baby can contribute to depression," she says.
While
research suggests that hormonal changes may contribute to the onset of postpartum
depression in women, "no definitive hormonal cause" has
been identified, Dr. Paulson points out.
Other factors suspected to play a role include a history
of depression, fatigue, marital discord, social support, and financial support.
"Factors of this nature certainly can affect fathers, and
they probably do in many families," he adds.
For the study, parents completed questionnaires and were
interviewed to determine whether they showed symptoms of depression.
Researchers also probed parent-child interactions, such
as reading, telling stories, and singing songs - acts considered critically
important for positive child development.
Depression
in either parent was associated with reduced interaction, Dr. Paulson notes,
and "fathers with greater levels
of depression interacted with their child less."
Dr. Goodman says the research highlights a link between
maternal and paternal postpartum depression. Men whose partners are distressed
are at significantly higher risk of experiencing postpartum depression themselves.
Yet postpartum paternal depression typically is not on clinicians'
radar, she concedes, and men often have less contact with health-care providers
than women do.
However reluctant they may be to seek help, it is important
for new dads who are experiencing symptoms of depression to see their primary-care
provider or a mental-health specialist for evaluation and treatment, notes
Dr. Goodman.
"One important implication for clinicians is, if a woman
is identified as depressed during the postpartum period, to ask the father
how he's doing and to screen for depression in him," she says.
Always consult your physician for more information.
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