Yes you read that title correct, we are talking about paternal post-natal depression. More than 3,000 families in the UK were studied and the results are quite compelling. The team found that nearly 1 in 20 fathers suffered from depression in the weeks after the birth of their child. The researchers noticed something rather interesting, there’s an association between paternal post-natal depression and heightened risk for depression in their daughters at the age of 18. One of the authors of the study, Dr. Paul Ramchandani explains, “Whilst many children will not be affected by parental depression in this way, the findings of this study highlight the importance of providing appropriate help to fathers, as well as mothers, who may experience depression."
Source: JAMA Psychiatry, 2018.