A new study has found that 10 per cent of fathers suffer serious depression after the birth of their children. Lead researcher Dr James F. Paulson, assistant professor of paediatrics at America’s Eastern Virginia Medical School, said of post-natal depression: "It's viewed as a disorder of motherhood. It's not viewed by health professionals and the public as a problem in fathers." His team analyzed the findings of 43 different studies into new dads becoming depressed. These involved data from over 28,000 fathers from Australia, China, Great Britain and the USA. Dr Paulson found that American men were the most likely to experience depression. Over 14 per cent of U.S. dads got the post-baby blues compared with an international average of 8.2 per cent.
Dr Paulson said the results were interesting and that his statistics represent “a significant public health concern and something we need to pay more attention to.” He points to a number of reasons for post-natal depression in men. A big factor is depression in the mother. Up to a quarter of mothers experience some form of depression following childbirth. Another big reason is the pressure brought to a marriage after starting a family and how the mother and father help each other. Other reasons include a lack of sleep, financial stress and having a sick baby. Dr Paulson’s advice for new parents is: "Depression affects both parents and both parents should be on the lookout for it… Depression in one partner has a cascading effect throughout the entire family unit.”
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