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Daddy Baby Blues?
Understanding How Postpartum Depression Affects New Dads
By Gina Roberts-Grey
In addition to seeking a trained diagnosis, knowing the difference between being sleep deprived and having signs of PPD is crucial for parents to receive accurate and adequate treatment. The American Psychological Association (APA) has identified a number of symptoms as those "typical" of patients experiencing postpartum depression. The APA lists obsessive thoughts, chest pains or difficulty breathing, feelings of helplessness or inadequacy, the inability to form an attachment to his child and trouble maintaining typical sleep patterns as a few of the signs that a new dad may have paternal PPD and recommends anyone experiencing these symptoms contact their physician.
Because postpartum depression can lead parents to contemplate personal harm or harming their child, health care experts and the APA emphatically urge anyone who experiences thoughts of suicide or of causing any type of physical harm to seek immediate medical assistance to prevent an unnecessary tragedy.
"There are some circumstances that place a man at a higher risk for paternal PPD," says Ashenbach. "A father who has a history of depression, has a high stress level, shared a traumatic or difficult pregnancy or birth of his child or has little to no social support has a greater chance of experiencing some level of PPD."
Encouraging a father to discuss his feelings and symptoms with his medical doctor or with a mental health expert will generate tremendous relief. "Receiving justification that he's not 'crazy' or 'shouldn't be feeling this way,' a man will develop clarity to what he's experiencing," says John Cunningham, a marriage and family therapist in Mt. Shasta, Calif. Combining therapy, family support and in some cases medication prescribed and monitored by a physician are the most popular methods available to parents struggling to overcome their baby blues.
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