Postnatal depression isn’t just something that mothers experience, and one organization is working to spread awareness to fathers who suffer from the mood disorder.
Postnatal depression isn’t just something that mothers experience, and one organization is working to spread awareness to fathers who suffer from the mood disorder.
Ten years ago, pediatrician David Levin couldn’t understand what he was feeling just after giving birth to his first son.
“I was feeling very frustrated and angry,” he said. “I had thoughts of homicide and suicide. I was functioning normally, and I was like, ‘I don’t know what this is.'”
Levine said her symptoms returned a few years after giving birth to her second son and she discovered it was postpartum depression.
As a pediatrician, he knew how to diagnose new mothers struggling with the disorder, but didn’t realize it applied to him.
“If you had asked me back then if I was sad or anxious, I would have said no,” Levin says. [searched for] When I learned that, I realised it could potentially happen to men too.”
In his search for help, he turned to a national nonprofit organization. Postnatal Support International (PSI) He became so involved in the organization and helped other men that he is now the vice president of the organization.
Levine said this Father’s Day is a time to put the spotlight on men’s postpartum mental health.
“Men don’t really talk about these things,” he says, “so many men go through this in some way, but so few men actually get help.”
The disorder has a range of symptoms in men: in fathers it can manifest as anger, frustration and irritability, and in new mothers it can manifest as mood swings, frequent crying, fatigue and anxiety, according to the PSI.
Fathers are often overlooked due to the common misconception that paternity issues only affect women.
But at least one in 10 men suffer from postpartum depression between pregnancy and a year after birth, and 50 percent of fathers also suffer from the disorder if their partner suffers from it, Levine said.
What’s more, new fathers are less likely to let family and friends know about their symptoms, so they tend to suffer in silence, said Daniel Shingley, PhD, a licensed psychologist and PSI advisory board member.
As a result, only around 25% of men who develop the condition get the help they need.
“A lot of times it’s not enough for a dad to just realize, ‘I’m depressed,'” Singley says. “He’s just going to see that there’s something around me that needs fixing. And it’s important that the people around him are mirrors for him.”
Another obstacle to getting help is that men tend to isolate themselves when they face difficulties.
“That’s one of the reasons why having something like a support group can be so helpful,” Singley says, “so that you’re not straining and holding yourself back and going it alone.”
Singley and Levine recommend PSI’s 24-hour hotline, 1-800-944-4773, for new dads struggling with perinatal mental illness.
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