Mental Health

Can Men Have Postpartum Depression Too?

By Minnow Blythe | Update Date: Jan 18, 2017 10:01 AM EST

Postpartum depression is a mood disorder that can affect women after childbirth. But according to health professionals, postpartum depression can affect men too.

Paternal postpartum depression of postpartum depression in men is as common as the usual postpartum depression that affects women. It is a serious but treatable condition that can occur anytime during the first year of the child's life.

According to statistical data reported in HealthDay, one in four new dads or one in ten men suffers from paternal postpartum depression. Postpartum Men adds that every day in the United States over a thousand new fathers are suffering from paternal postpartum depression. Some studies even suggest that the number of postpartum depression suffering men is as high as 2,700 every day.

In mothers, postpartum depression can make them feel extreme sadness, anxiety, and exhaustion to the point that may make it difficult to accomplish daily tasks for themselves and for their family, especially her newborn child. The same signs can be seen in men who suffer from postpartum depression but healthcare researchers add that men have the tendency to be less weepy so postpartum depression may look different in men.

Just like how mothers recover from postpartum depression, men who have postpartum depression first should seek professional help to correctly diagnose that they have this clinical condition. Support from friends and family coupled with professionally prescribed treatment should be done. Psychotherapy, couple's therapy, medication, and exercises can also help men with postpartum depression.

"Some support tips include encouraging the father to be involved with the baby and for the couple to spend time with each other", adds Dr. Robyn Horsager-Boehrer, Chief of Obstetrics and Gynecology at UT Southwestern's University Hospital.

Furthermore, these men who are suffering from postpartum depression should know that they are not alone and by admitting they have this clinical condition is admitting that there is hope for recover.

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