An Interesting Article

I found this article last week on USA Today's site: http://www.usatoday.com/yourlife/parenting-family/2011-03-14-sad-dads_N.htm. I would disregard the lead, it seems a tad disingenuous; however I certainly recommend reading it. The real takeaway is we are overlooking depression in new fathers.

I don't necessarily agree with the idea that depression in new fathers is some variety of post-partum depression. Really what I see is the pressures of being a new father, the lack of sleep, and a 'blue' or even post-partum depressed spouse, all combining to add so much stress to cause more conciencious men to succumb to depression. To some it may seem this is a transient state but I feel it is important to address.

While transient depression is common, even desireable, if it begins to have a negative impact it should be addressed. Everyone has periods of this and really need to as way to reset our systems. They key difference, and the marker of when to push for help, is this impact. Transient depression, while in rare cases can lead to things life self-mutilation or suicide, is mostly harmless to self and others. It is when depression starts toward harmful that we need to start seeking assistance.

Harmful behavior is a hallmark of major depression. When, what you think is, transient depression wears on it can begin to impact thoughts in serious ways. Thoughts of sadness turn into various forms of self-harm. This can be less obvious things like eating too much, eating drastically less, sleeping a great deal more or less, or even work attendance or productivity problems. They can also be more obvious like thoughts of physical harm to self or others, enjoyment of pain, and attempts to harm self or others.

So I guess it's not that I think there's a post-partum depression for dads, but it may bear watching. Maybe the stress of being a new dad is something that would push a person with depressive tendencies toward full-blown depression.