New fathers can suffer from postnatal depression too, study suggests

Having a baby may cause men with a history of depression to relapse, a new British study suggests. Researchers at University College London (UCL) analyzed the medical records of 90,000 men who had had children in the previous year and compared them to those who had not become fathers.

Men who had not taken antidepressants before having a child were no more likely than men without children to need the treatment.

However, they found that new fathers with a recent history of taking antidepressants were more than 30 times more likely to be prescribed them in the first year after having a child.

Study author Irene Petersen, professor of epidemiology and health informatics at UCL, said: ‘Some of these men will have continued the treatment they were already on, but others had no recent prescription and may have had a relapse of depression.

“Maybe they’re just more aware of the symptoms and seeking treatment — we were looking at antidepressant use and not the diagnosis.” What we did see is that [paternal post-natal depression] is not a risk unless you are prone to depression. But having a child can be a trigger for some men.”

It is known that a history of mental illness can dramatically increase the risk of depression in women during pregnancy and after childbirth. But this is one of the first studies on the use of antidepressants in men after having a child.

Of the 3,840 fathers who underwent antidepressant treatment within a year of child birth, 2,552 — about 66.5 percent — underwent further antidepressant treatment in the year after their child was born.

In addition, of the 1,206 fathers who took antidepressants one to two years before their child was born, 175 — or about 14 percent — received further antidepressant treatment in the year after their child was born.

Of the 85,690 men who had no history of taking antidepressants, only 1,712 (two percent) were prescribed them in the year after their child was born. In light of the findings, the authors suggest that it might be helpful to have a mental health check-up with a GP in the first year after having a child.

Lead researcher, PhD candidate, Holly Smith, said: ‘The relationship between depression and paternity is complex, but we found that previous antidepressant treatment is an important determinant of antidepressant use in the year after having a child.

“This may be because the men continued the treatment they were on before having a child, or these men may be more prone to feeling depressed again and the challenges of having another child may exacerbate this.”

‘After the birth of a child, the focus is normally on the health of mother and baby. However, we need to make sure that new fathers also get the care they need by doing better research on new fathers and how we can communicate with them about their mental health.”

Postpartum depression affects one in ten new mothers, according to NHS data, and just as many women have problems during pregnancy.

One study, which looked at 20,000 medical records, suggested that a similar percentage of men suffer from depression during their partner’s pregnancy and in the first year after they get older. According to the latest NHS data, around 22 million antidepressant prescriptions were distributed to an estimated 6.6 million patients between October and December 2022.

According to NHS data, one in ten new mothers are affected by postpartum depression, and just as many women have problems during pregnancy (stock photo)

About one in six adults suffers from moderate to severe depression – up from one in ten before the Covid pandemic. Research from the Government’s Office for National Statistics shows that the problem was even more common among people with financial problems, who are long-term sick and disabled – or who are caring for someone who is.

Young adults between the ages of 16 and 29 were also at greater risk, with more than a quarter having a mental illness. Overall, women are more likely (19 percent) than men (14 percent) to report experiencing some form of depression.

In addition to prior antidepressant use, the UCL researchers found that social deprivation was also a key factor in whether new fathers were prescribed antidepressants.

Fathers living in the most deprived areas were 18 percent more likely to be prescribed an antidepressant compared to fathers living in the least deprived areas.