SAD DADS: Despite the widely held view that moms are the only ones at risk for postpartum depression, a new review of the literature shows one in 10 dads might be at risk for prenatal and/or postpartum depression.
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Strange tales of lactating men or male pregnancy pains crop up in the news from time to time, despite the fact that men cannot get pregnant. Does that mean men are also susceptible to bouts with prenatal and postpartum depression?
Previous research has found rates of depression in new dads that range from 1 percent to 25 percent, but a new meta-analysis, published May 19 in JAMA, Journal of the American Medical Association, assessed 43 studies of a total of more than 28,000 fathers and found that an average of 10.4 percent suffered from depression sometime between the first trimester of their partner's pregnancy and the child's first birthday.
Rates of paternal depression were highest three to six months after birth (25.6 percent) and in the U.S. (14.1 percent versus the international rate of 8.2 percent). All of these numbers are considerably higher than the annual rate for adult male depression, which is 4.8 percent (but lower than the rate for maternal prenatal and postpartum depression, which is estimated to be 23.8 percent).
"This suggests that paternal prenatal and postpartum depression represents a significant public health concern," concluded the authors of the new paper.
Many moms get what is known as the baby blues, a passing sadness in the first few days after the birth of their child. But postpartum depression in both mothers and fathers is a condition that lasts longer, and "it may be very problematic for families and child outcomes," says James Paulson of the Department of Pediatrics at Eastern Virginia Medical School, the lead author of the meta-analysis. Extreme examples of parental depression can lead to suicide or to harm or neglect of the baby, but even mild to moderate depression in fathers has been shown to have lasting negative effects on their children for years to come.
Difficult diagnosis
Postpartum depression in moms has become a more widely discussed—and diagnosed—issue in recent years, but finding fathers who are going through something similar has proven difficult. Diagnostic questionnaires often focus on questions about sadness and other states that men typically are less likely to acknowledge. Some researchers have advocated to change the vocabulary to include issues such as irritability, emotional withdrawal and detachment, which can also be symptoms of depression in men, Paulson says.
Additionally, "there's a general cultural myth that men don't get depressed," says Will Courtenay, a psychotherapist and researcher in Oakland, Calif. who is completing research on paternal postpartum depression in collaboration with Harvard's Center for Men at McLean Hospital. "Because of that cultural myth, men oftentimes think they shouldn't get depressed, and when they are depressed they try to hide it."
Many new parents endure a host of symptoms often associated with depression (such as fatigue, change in appetite or anxiety), even if they have a clean bill of mental health. As a parent of an infant, "you don’t have time to eat a normal diet, you don't have time to get eight hours of sleep," Paulson notes. So "trying to parse out fatigue" and other normal indicators of depression can be tricky, he says. But for people who have clear cases of clinical depression, there are cues beyond typical parenting troubles, such as persistent detachment, feeling hopeless or worthless, or thoughts of death.
Finally, doctors and pediatricians usually see new fathers less often than they do new mothers, who are most frequently the parent bringing a baby in for appointments during the first year of life. Even though screening for depression in mothers is far from perfect, it is much easier to do given their more regular contact with the health care system, Paulson noted at a May 18 press briefing hosted by JAMA in New York.
Paternal biology
As the childbearers, women have been the primary focus for studies of physiological and psychological changes during and after pregnancy. But more recent literature has begun to uncover changes in dads as well. A few studies have found hormonal changes in men about to become fathers and those who have just had a child, Paulson notes, though he is quick to add that none have yet linked these changes specifically to depression. Many of these shifts, however, mirror those occurring during the same period in women's bodies, such as increases in estrogen and prolactin, Courtenay says.
The sleep deprivation that comes along with being a new parent can alter neurochemical balances in the brain, making some people with underlying risk factors more vulnerable to depression. "It's kind of a double whammy," Courtenay says. "All these hormonal changes and neurochemical changes in the brain due to sleep deprivation can wreak havoc on a man."
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8 Comments
Add CommentWhy is this news? First, there needs to be a rigorous distinction drawn between post-partum depression and other types of major depression. Otherwise it's hard to tell if fathers get depressed as a result of a major lifestyle stress-ful event like having a child join the family. Second, as anybody who's lived with a depressed person knows, it IS likely to get depressed as a result of that, so the mother's post partum depression might be a contributing factor.
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It's tricky to parse out whether mothers' depression is hormonal in origin or whether it is a result of a major stressful life event, too.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIn all the theories discussed, they missed one that should be quite obvious. No sex! No wonder Dad is depressed.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAs hit on by people above.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisMen's depression during pregnancy is due to having to live with a pregnant woman.
I get depressed at the very thought of my wife ever getting pregnant again.
Child birth is a breeze... living with a pregnant woman... THAT is where the pain is!
/ yes this is tongue in cheek- women, please don't get angry... I know the woman goes through worse- but it is hard on the hubby too.
Humans raising children is not instinctive as to the human cultureal environment so becoming a parent is particularly distressing if there is not enough childrearing supportive environament. That is more relevant when there is more social isolataion as in the toxic nuclear family of overconsumption and work addiction in pursuing the Ameican sweat dream.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisNothing new. It�s known as COUVADE SYNDROME and it was described 2000 years ago. Radkin Honzak, psychiatrist
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIt´s nothing new. The syndrome is known more than 2000 years and now is known as COUVADE SYNDROME. Jonas
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWHEN NEW MOTHERS AND FATHERS EXPOSE THEIR EYES TO LIGHT WHEN GETTING UP DURING THE NIGHT TOP CARE FOR THEIR BABY, THEY SUPPRESS THEIR PRODUCTION OF MELATONIN, THE SLEEP HORMONE. THIS MAKES IT DIFFICULT TO SLEEP WELL WHEN RETURNING TO BED. IF THIS HAPPENS REPEATEDLY, IT CAN LEAD TO DEEPRESSION. THE BLUE RAYS IN WHITE LIGHT ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR MELATONIN SUPPRESSION. BLOCKING THE BLUE RAYS HAS BEEN SHOWN TO HELP DEPRESSED MOTHERS RECOVER FROM POSTPARTUM DEPRESSION. BLUE BLOCKING LIGHT BULBS AND EYEGLASSES ARE AVAILABLE ON THE INTERNET.
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