Fathers Suffer From Postpartum Depression Too
The cold hard truth about postpartum depression is there are just as many men who suffer through this as there are women. Though women are the ones who get all the attention, men sit in silence and in pure agony not just seeing their loved ones go through this, but they actually take on the same exact symptoms.
Symptoms of postpartum depression are the same as clinical depression such as sadness, fatigue, hopelessness, and drastic changes in mood and appetite. It can be as excessive as preoccupation with a child’s health or as serious as inward thoughts of harming the baby.
The original theory was that postpartum depression was a result in hormone levels in the body. But studies show that there is no definitive hormone cause. They found that it rather stems from a collection of key issues such as history of depression, fatigue, marital discord, social support and financial support. Because of this, fathers have been sitting right beside the moms facing the same issues.
What I found interesting is that in the study, they determined which parents showed symptoms of depression and then probed parent-child interactions, such as reading, telling stories, and singing songs which are all considered critically important for positive child development. They found that depression in either parent was associated with reduced interaction and that fathers with greater levels of depression interacted with their child much less.
Tags: anger, fathers, fathrehood, fatigue, hormones, loneliness, mothers, Parenting, postpartum-depression, sadness, studiesRelated Stories
POSTED IN: Advice, Parenting, Parenting Studies
2 opinions for Fathers Suffer From Postpartum Depression Too
Tracee Sioux
Jun 12, 2007 at 9:54 am
Steve,
This coincides with an article I recently wrote hypothesizing that sometimes PPD is really a massive identity crisis that comes with the drastic and traumatic change of becoming a parent. http://www.blogfabulous.com/mommy-pains-ppd-or-identity-crisis/ .
Although I do have to say that there is a massive shift in hormones in women, like a 90% drop in estrogen during the first 24 hours after delivery. In many women this is no big deal. But, for me - who rarely cries ever - it resulted both times in hysterical sobbing for about 6 hours straight. I don’t think there can be definative evidence of hormal issues because all women’s hormones react very differently even on a monthly basis. But, for sure the hormone fluxuations don’t help.
I can see how men would suffer PPD symptoms though, because it’s a huge identity shift.
Tracee
Tracee Sioux
Jun 12, 2007 at 9:56 am
Steve, Because I know you don’t have anything better to do I’ve tagged you for a meme. It’s a blogger game where you tell 7 interesting things about yourself on your blog and then tag 7 other bloggers. The rules and my 7 things are on both blogfabulous at http://www.blogfabulous.com and my empowering girls site So Sioux Me at http://www.traceesioux.blogspot.com .
Tracee
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