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Author: u/Wagamaga
URL: https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/995651

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Postpartum depression is a real phenomenon in men as well as women. Stress and anxiety mixed with sleep disturbances and a drastic change in lifestyle can affect anyone.

I didn't have a history of anti depressant medication use, but I did have an on and off history of depression, and when I had my first kid for sure I was severely depressed during the first year and a bit. A huge life change and it's implications for the future unknown can do that to a person. Ultimately I just had to find my way through the adjustment period, which took time. Now a few years into living with my son I couldn't imagine my life without him, and these have been some of the happiest of my life.

I think there's a mistake in this claim.

The fact that new fathers who have previously used antidepressants are more likely to *use* antidepressants within a year after their child's birth is not necessarily an indication that they need them more than new fathers who have never used them before, and is also not an indication that the child's existence affects the need.

It's possible that new fathers who have not previously used antidepressants would benefit from the use of antidepressants, but are either unwilling to get or incapable of getting antidepressants, and that that's just continuing irrespective of the fact that they are new fathers.

It's also possible that the known availability of antidepressants causes men who have previously gotten antidepressants to reach out for them more quickly based on anticipation, even before things get to a clinical stage of need.

New fathers are over 30 times more likely to take antidepressants in the first year after having a child, if they have a recent history of the treatment, finds a new study by UCL researchers.

The research, published in JAMA Network Open, analysed information from over 500,000 primary care electronic health records from the IQVIA Medical Research Database, from January 2007 to December 2016.

These included 90,736 men who had had a child in the previous year and 453,632 men who did not have a child. The team then examined how many men in each category had received an antidepressant prescription.

The researchers found no difference in antidepressant treatment between the two groups.

However, the results showed that having a history of antidepressant treatment made fathers over 30 times more likely to need treatment again after they had a child. Consequently, the researchers suggest that it could be beneficial for these men to have a mental health check-up with their GP in the first year after having a child.

Lead author, PhD candidate, Holly Smith (UCL Institute of Epidemiology & Health), said “Our findings show that the relationship between depression and fatherhood is complex and that previous antidepressant treatment is a key determinant associated with antidepressant use in the year after having a child.

“This may be because the men are continuing treatment they were on before having a child, or these men may be more susceptible to having feelings of depression again and the challenges of having a new child may exacerbate this.

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2805443

Yeah after having kids it's hard to do the things that you used to do. It must be depressing

Being a father had the opposite effect on me, I experienced much less anxiety and depression (not zero but significantly less) in those first couple years, that leveled out for awhile and then it got worse as he got older.

Next you'll be telling me that fathers with heart disease still tend to have heart disease after having a child.

How often does depression actually get cured? I thought it was usually a matter of managing it for life.

Men are more likely to not stay connected to friends as they age.

Need follow up study on how long after the kid’s birth his partner leaves him, oh and I can be contacted for the study

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All the interruptions to sleep will mess anyone up.