Can Men Get Postnatal depression? Yes of course they can. It is just more difficult to spot the signs of a depressed man, we tend to think that someone depressed would be sat crying and as we all know men don’t cry or at least are not as emotional as women.
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My husband suffered postnatal depression after our 2nd son was born, I didn’t notice anything odd or strange when he held him for the first time, when he helped me change nappies or got up to do a night feed. It was weeks after the birth that my husband admitted that he hadn’t bonded with his son.
I blamed myself, I too was suffering from my own depression and I threw all my time and energy into caring for our new baby, that I pushed him to a side and didn’t allow him the quality time he needed with his son. I was partly to blame.
My husband did go to the GP after weeks of me begging him; he was prescribed antidepressants and went along to see a counselor for 6 sessions.
In time he did come out of the depression and looking at father and son today you would never have guessed that there were any bonding problems.
I was too engrossed with my own feelings to spot the symptoms; it never crossed my mind that men get postnatal depression too. I put his low moods and lack of motivation down to the sleepless nights and the stresses that go with having a new baby. I didn’t see the negative thoughts, or hear the voices that told him he was useless, that his son deserved better than him and that he was a failure to his family.
Admitting how he felt took courage, he is a man and men find it difficult to confide in others about their true feelings. Sat with friends he was able to talk about the football results but never postnatal depression.
Can Men Get Postnatal Depression? They sure can and it is just the same for men as it is for women.
