We should no longer call it postpartum depression, but postnatal because it also affects fathers, and to an almost equal extent to mothers: according to a recent study by the Swedish Lund University, conducted on 530 neopaps, more than 8 percent suffer from it compared to about 10-12 per cent of women, and if we speak more generally of depressive symptoms, almost one in four fathers seem to be affected between the first and eighteenth month of life of newborns. These data confirm the numbers of other previous researches, already known to those who deal with perinatal depression, but definitely surprising for those who are not “experts”, comments Camilla Gesi, psychiatrist of the Department of Mental Health of the Fatebenefratelli-Sacco, in Milan.
How do you explain a similar frequency of the disorder in both sexes?
Men certainly do not have the hormonal imbalances of women who have just given birth struggling with the drop in estrogen
And here he is wrong. The hormones that come into play are certainly not the same in both sexes, but variations also occur in men. Some studies show that, shortly after becoming fathers, men experience a drop in testosterone; this change, in an evolutionary key, can be interpreted as functional to a containment of aggressive behaviors, given that this hormone is also linked to aggression. But in addition to this hormone, oxytocin also comes into play for men.
Is oxytocin not the hormone that increases to promote childbirth and milk? What do men do with it?
Oxytocin is also called the love hormone because, in addition to being released in the blood (where it carries out the well-known induction of childbirth and lactation), it is also released as a neurotransmitter in the brain, where it promotes the formation of bonds. and the onset of caring behaviors. In mothers it has been studied extensively: it has been seen that oxytocin levels increase after maternity and there is an oxytocinergic discharge whenever the mother interacts with the baby. But it also happens to neopaps.
Tadorning depression what other factors come into play?There are many, starting with the subversion of circadian rhythms, due to the new rhythms of life, to sleepless nights, which increasingly affect fathers too, who are much more involved in caring for little ones than yesterday. + And then there are psychological factors such as role transition, taking on new responsibilities, fear of not being up to par, feelings of incompetence and inadequacy with respect to the new role. Much, however, also depends on the personality structure, as the Swedish study points out, in which it is noted that fathers at greatest risk of depression are those with an anxious attachment to their children.
What is anxious attachment and what is it due to?
It has to do with a “negative” perception of self: the person not sure of his own worth as a possible object of care and love on the part of the other; a parameter that has vaguely to do with self-esteem. as if you didn’t feel worthy of having a child. Or in general to have positive emotional relationships. And those who did not feel cared for and protected when they were little are more likely to develop low self-esteem and therefore an “anxious” attachment, characterized by the constant fear of losing the affection of the other.
What is the importance of the fear of losing the affection, or at least the attention, of the partner engaged with the newborn? Let’s go back to the previous discussion: fear has taken hold above all on those who have an insecure attachment style, for all the reasons mentioned.
The Swedish study talks about mother’s depression as a risk factor for father’s, do you agree?
Absolutely yes: maternal perinatal depression indeed one of the risk factors with the greatest weight in the development of depression in the father. It is not difficult to understand why: a depressed mother cannot fully take care of the baby and the burden of doing so falls on the father’s shoulders who, in addition to this, also has to face poor social understanding and the lack of true protection of paternity. Co
May 29, 2021 (change May 29, 2021 | 20:25)
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